


Parent Teacher Association (PTA)

by reddiebitch



Category: IT (2017), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Alternate Universe, Bisexual Richie Tozier, Dad Richie Tozier, Eddie Kaspbrak Loves Richie Tozier, Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier-centric, Endgame Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier, Gay Eddie Kaspbrak, M/M, Richie Tozier & Stanley Uris Are Best Friends, Richie Tozier Flirts, Richie Tozier Loves Eddie Kaspbrak
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-31
Updated: 2018-02-26
Packaged: 2019-03-22 21:35:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 28,054
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13773060
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reddiebitch/pseuds/reddiebitch
Summary: In which Eddie is Richie's kid's first grade teacher. Read the epiloguehere





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on tumblr [@kaspbrak-eddie](http://www.kaspbrak-eddie.tumblr.com)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (This chapter was updated 7/9/18)

Eddie Kaspbrak was every kid at Derry Elementary’s favorite teacher. He had been teaching first grade in Derry for about three and a half years now, after getting hired right out of college. He’d grown up in Bangor, so the move to Derry had been perfect for him, and he absolutely loved his job. Being around kids all the time was so refreshing and fun, they always had a great perspective on things and could turn his sour moods around almost instantly with their creative takes on problems. He was someone with a very short fuse and didn’t much like dealing with people, but kids were so much different. How could you stay mad at someone who was three feet tall and barely spoke English correctly? Most people would find it draining to spend all day with twenty-four six-year-olds, but Eddie had found that it actually gave him energy.

Some of the parents had initially been a little hesitant to leave their kids with a twenty-six-year-old all day, but once they saw how good he was with the kids, they all fell in love with him. All of the husbands were slightly worried that their wives would leave them for him—all of the moms absolutely raved about him and they _definitely_ flirted with him at parent-teacher conferences. Although the men had absolutely nothing to worry about, he could not care less about the thirty-something women trying to come on to him, and usually tended to just ignore it—all he cared about was the kids, he didn’t think much about any of their parents. 

His favorite student by far was Sarah Tozier, an adorable little girl with a mop of messy, dark curls, a light smattering of freckles across her nose, and a pair of pink glasses with some of the thickest lenses Eddie had ever seen. They magnified her eyes and exaggerated all of her expressions so you never had to wonder what she was thinking. He knew he definitely shouldn’t have a favorite student, but she was irresistible. She was a quiet kid but remarkably intelligent, with a better sense of humor than any other kid he’d ever met. She had her nose buried in a new book every week, and Eddie always loved asking her what she was reading. Her bright green eyes would light up and she would explain every single detail of the plot nonsensically, in the way only kids can. She was very well behaved in class, speaking only to answer questions or to make a witty quip. Her sense of humor was very sharp, almost caustic—if a six-year-old's behavior could even be described that way—which is why it was so easy for Eddie to get along with her. Despite spending almost seven hours a day with her, Eddie had never met Sarah’s parents. As far as he knew, she was picked up from school by her grandmother most days.

On a particularly frigid day in February—the kind of all-encompassing cold that you only get in the northeast—Sarah had an asthma attack during recess. Eddie had, in fact, stated that morning, immediately after walking in the building, that it was far too cold for outdoor recess, but apparently, the temperature had been just above the cutoff, so they had gone outside anyway. He had spent the entire recess standing outside huddled up in a big, puffy coat with a huge scarf wrapped around his neck, huffing about how the cold was going to give _him_ an asthma attack. So when she came up to him wheezing, he knew exactly what to do, leaving the rest of his class with the other first grade teacher to take her to the nurse’s office. He helped her get her breathing under control as they made their way there, and he hurried back to his classroom after he knew she was in good hands. He immediately flipped through the book with all of the students’ emergency contact information and found her name towards the end, leaving his finger on the paper to mark his spot while he quickly dialed the number listed with his other hand. He put the receiver between his ear and his shoulder and put the directory book away as the phone began to ring.

While dialing, he had been too worked up to realize that the phone number listed was the one of the local radio station, and he didn’t realize until a booming voice answered the phone: “Hello there, you’ve got Rich ‘Records’ Tozier here, what can I do for ya?” Eddie realized as he spoke that he was listening to the same voice he heard every morning while he drove to school—he’d never put it together that he had the same last name as his favorite student.

“Um.. yeah hi, this is Mr. Kaspbrak, Sarah’s teacher.” Eddie said into the phone hesitantly, not sure why he was so nervous.

Again in the same voice, “Oh did she get in a fight at school? She acting out? She’s a handful that one.” He chuckled.

“Yeah actually, she had a little asthma attack at recess today, she’s fine now bu—”

Richie’s voice dropped and he whispered, “Oh god,” before hanging up abruptly. Eddie pulled the receiver back and looked at it, as if it would have any idea as to why Richie would have just hung the phone up in the middle of the conversation. He shook his head then shrugged, replacing the receiver in its cradle back on the desk. He shot an email off to the principle, Bill, about what had happened and how it had been handled. He also drafted up an email to the other teacher saying that he was going to check on Sarah again before coming back to get his class. Just as he hit send on the second email, his classroom door was thrown open and Richie burst through the doorway, looking absolutely frazzled. Eddie had never seen him before, but it didn’t take long for him to realize who it was by the messy head of curls. His hair looked ridiculous—he had obviously been obsessively running his hands through it since Eddie had called less than ten minutes ago. The radio station was at least a fifteen to twenty-minute drive from the school, so Richie must have been driving like a maniac, Eddie was surprised he hadn’t been pulled over.

Richie looked around at the empty classroom and his eyes landed on Eddie, who was just standing up from his desk. He kind of half screamed without realizing, “Where is she??"

Eddie walked toward Richie and beckoned for him to follow as he led him out the door and to the nurse’s office. “I was just about to head back down here to check on her again. She was doing fine when I left her though.”

Richie nodded, his eyes frantic as he walked next to Eddie, his long strides carrying him down the hall quickly, although Eddie managed to keep up even though he was about five inches shorter. They reached the end of the hall and Eddie turned, opening a door and motioning for Richie to go in first. He watched as Richie caught sight of Sarah who was just sitting cross-legged on one of the cots with her inhaler resting next to her legs. She was seemingly completely fine though, as she was sucking on a lollipop and reading her book of the week. Richie ran over to her and scooped her up in his arms. “Oh thank god you’re okay, I’ve been worried sick about you! How dare you scare me like that, young lady?”

She just giggled in his arms, pulling her sucker out of her mouth and saying, “Daddy I’m fine! Mr. K is like a doctor, he knew exactly what to do.”

Richie turned back to shoot him a gracious smile as he deposited Sarah back to her original position, patting her on the head once she was sitting down. “Thank you so much, the asthma scares the shit out of me. I’d never even known anyone with it until I had her, so I’m still kind of figuring it out.”

“I grew up with it, so I’ve been around the block,” Eddie said, chuckling softly. He looked up at Richie, meeting his eyes. This was the first chance they’d had to actually look at each other since Richie had arrived, they both looked each other up and down, although Eddie managed to do so a little more subtly than Richie. He thought that Richie might just be one of the cutest people he’d ever seen, with the same adorable freckles that Sarah had and warm, brown eyes that he was having a hard time tearing his gaze away from. A grin broke out on Richie’s face and Eddie could feel himself blushing as he looked away.

“Well, I can’t even begin to explain how much better that makes me feel. Smart, cute, and asthmatic… what more could a guy ask for out of his daughter’s first-grade teacher?” Richie smirked as he noticed Eddie’s blush deepen.

“…Alright well, I’d better get back to class, it’s not going to teach itself… I’ll catch her up on any work she missed tomorrow, it shouldn’t be much.” Eddie said, suddenly reluctant to leave. 

“Alright well thank you again for helping her out, it means a lot.” Riche looked down at Sarah and reached a hand out to ruffle her curls, “What do you say, little munchkin, should we go home?” She looked up from her book and nodded, then began to gather her things. Eddie watched as Richie zipped her up in her little pink coat, and he felt his chest swell at how cute they were as they walked out to Richie’s car hand in hand. Richie was looking down at her, talking very animatedly and using his other hand to gesticulate wildly; she was looking up at him and listening intently, laughing and smiling at him as if he were the coolest person on the planet.

He went back to class but couldn’t seem to get Rich “Records” Tozier out of his mind for the rest of the day, essentially just counting down the minutes until the bell rang. As he walked his class out to the front of the school and watched as they all got to their various rides home safely, his mind was just on a loop of Richie Richie Richie Richie.

Mike, the art teacher and one of Eddie’s best friends, came up next to him, noticing him spacing out in the general direction of the parking lot. “Hey dude you okay? You seem a little out of it, I heard one of your kids got hurt today at recess or something?”

“Yeah she’s okay though,” Eddie said a little absentmindedly. “Her dad came to pick her up.”

“Oh, so would that be the reason behind the heart eyes you’re currently sporting?” Mike laughed heartily.

This snapped Eddie out of his Richie trance. “Excuse me?” he asked quickly, whipping his head to the side to shoot Mike a bitter look.

“Dude it’s so obvious. It’s fine though you don’t need to be so defensive.” He looked around, making sure no other teachers were close enough to hear, “So who is it?” He asked quietly in a sing-song voice.

Eddie felt himself blushing again, hoping that it could just be played off to the cold. “It’s... It was Sarah Tozier. Her dad.”

Mike let out a mock gasp, smiling at Eddie kindly, “The angel child? Oh boy, Eddie. You’re in deep.”

Eddie groaned, slouching his shoulders forward. “I know.”

“Well, let me know how that works out for you, there aren’t many single parents at this school to begin with, let alone any that would want to date you,” Mike teased. Eddie scrunched up his nose and punched him softly on the arm. “You need to learn to hit harder,” Mike said in a jovial tone of voice as he walked away from Eddie laughing.

* * *

 

Eddie spent the whole night thinking about Richie, knowing in the back of his mind that he probably wouldn’t see him again until parent-teacher conferences, which weren’t for about a month. He went to sleep that night with his head a mess, his brain running circles around itself and keeping him up late into the night.

When he woke up the next morning, he was absolutely exhausted from his mind running almost all night: once he’d finally fallen asleep he hadn’t ended up sleeping well at all, waking up a few times in the night from very weird, nondescript dreams involving Richie. He groaned as he sat up in bed, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. He came to the conclusion that he was definitely not going to make it through the day without coffee, and since he rarely drank coffee since he’d gotten out of college, he had none at his house. His mind flipped through the coffee places he knew about that were close, debating which would be the quickest as he pulled on a pair of khakis and grabbed a clean shirt from his closet, shuffling around his room like a zombie. He headed down the stairs, grabbing his keys on the way out, and making his way over to a little coffee shop that was in between his house and the school that he drove past every day but had never been in.

It was a little after seven in the morning, so the small shop was fairly busy, but it was nothing compared to what the line at Starbucks would have been. Eddie weaved his way through the tables up to the counter and ordered a cappuccino from the kind-looking teenager behind the counter. While waiting and scrolling through his phone to catch up on the news, he felt a little body slam into him and wrap its arms tightly around his leg. He looked down to see none other than Sarah Tozier smiling up at him, her face flushed from the cold but sporting a huge grin nonetheless. Richie followed not far behind, chuckling to himself as he unbuttoned his coat.

Richie looked just about as tired as Eddie felt, the dark circles under his eyes magnified by the thick glasses he had decided to wear today–glasses that he shouldn’t have been able to pull off but somehow managed to. Eddie honestly felt like he might pass out, who allowed a human being to look so attractive in ridiculous glasses like that? Biting his lip, Richie smiled at him then shifted his gaze down to Sarah, who was still attached to Eddie’s left leg like a koala. He reached down to run a hand through her hair, trying to tame the windblown, slept-on curls a bit. As Eddie watched, he noticed that there was no ring on his left ring finger: definitely a good sign. He looked back up as Richie began talking, “Sarah, give the guy a break, he’s about to deal with you for the next seven hours, we don’t want to torture him.”

He looked back up and adjusted his glasses on his face, his eyes meeting Eddie’s, almost amber in the bright morning light. Eddie could make out every detail of his irises, aided by the thick lenses that sat in front of them. “Well good morning,” he managed to get out.

Richie beamed at him, “Come here often?” He asked in an almost joking tone, but the way he looked at Eddie made it seem like he was genuinely curious.

Eddie laughed at the cliché, “Actually no, I never drink coffee, but I got absolutely no sleep last night. So here I am,” he said as he gestured around himself.

“Ah, couldn’t get me out of your head?” Richie asked, smirking.

 _Yeah, if only he knew_ , Eddie thought to himself. “Shouldn’t you be on the radio right now?” he countered. Once he saw Richie’s eyebrows shoot up he added, “Sometimes I just put it on during my drive to school when I can’t find anything else.”

“I’m your last resort? Gotta say, Eds, that hurts a little.”

“It’s Eddie. I’ve never liked nicknames.”

“Isn’t Eddie a nickname for Edward in the first place? Anyway, they let one of the college interns take over my slot this morning, but I’m not complaining, it means I get to spend more time with my best girl.” He said, smiling over at Sarah, who was now staring into the pastry display case with wide eyes, both hands pressed against the glass on either side of her face which was illuminated by the lights inside the case.

Eddie waited for Richie to order his black coffee and for Sarah to stand on her tiptoes to order a cup of milk for herself. And a chocolate chip cookie, smirking back at Richie after she added it. “Fine, you can have one this morning, but just because it’s a special occasion,” Richie had said to her, eventually giving in to her begging–she obviously had him wrapped around her tiny fingers, he was too easy.

When Eddie asked what the “special occasion” was, Richie had simply replied, “Running into you, of course.” Eddie wondered to himself how Richie could just _say_ shit like this.

There was enough time before school started that they decided not to get their drinks to go, much to the surprise of the barista–apparently, Richie and Sarah were regulars every morning. “We’re in no hurry to leave today.” Richie had said, shrugging as he handed his debit card to the young girl behind the counter, looking back at Eddie with a small smile. 

They spent the next half hour sitting at a table sipping their coffee and chatting (flirting) while Sarah quietly worked on a few coloring pages the shop had left out on the counter, her eyes centimeters away from the paper and her tongue stuck out the side of her mouth slightly. When it was time to leave for school, Sarah offered one of the pages to her dad and the other to Eddie, who thanked her and promised to put it up on his refrigerator when he got home that night. They parted ways and Eddie could already tell it was going to be a long day.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (This chapter was updated on 8/3/18)

The day that Eddie ran into Richie and Sarah at the coffee shop was one of the longest days of his life. He was already working on very little sleep, just running on the caffeine he'd had that morning and the butterflies perpetually in his stomach every time he let his mind wander back to the coffee run. He found himself trailing off in the middle of sentences every few minutes, getting distracted by thoughts of a certain raven-haired radio disc jockey.

When the end of the day finally rolled around, to Eddie's great relief, he was running on fumes as he walked his class out to the front of the school for pick-up. To Eddie's great surprise, Sarah's grandmother wasn't outside waiting for her as usual. He figured she must just be late, for the first time ever, until a car came screeching into the parking lot; he knew before the driver even opened the door who it would be. His suspicions were confirmed when he saw a black mop of hair pop up, followed by a vintage-looking leather jacket. Richie turned around, the picture of suave until he flashed Eddie and Sarah the dopiest grin Eddie had ever seen, pushing his thick glasses up on his nose and erratically bounding over to them, almost tripping over the curb as he stepped up onto the sidewalk.

He was slightly out of breath as he closed the distance between them, "Good afternoon! Well, if it isn't my favorite daughter and my favorite teacher!"

Sarah grinned up at him, "Dad, I'm your  _only_ daughter," she giggled. 

"Doesn't mean you're not my favorite, little bug." He leaned down to pick her up, grabbing her from under her arms and hauling her up close to his face so he could litter her forehead and cheeks and neck with kisses while she squealed with laughter the whole time.

"Daddy!" She screamed, "Put me down!" She spoke between roaring laughs and heaving breaths, "You remember what happened last time." 

"Alright alright," he replied as he placed her gently back down on the ground by his feet.

Eddie chuckled, "What happened last time?" He asked, looking up at Richie.

"Okay. Well, we were--"

Sarah interrupted, "He tickled me too much and I kicked him in the face. He started crying."

Richie groaned. "Okay, that's not even--" Eddie laughed, looking back to Richie through his lashes, a warm smile on his face. Richie continued, "She kicked me in the nose! My eyes were just watering!"

"Mhm, I'm sure that's exactly what happened."

"Sarah! Time to go!" He grinned at Eddie, "I will not stand to have my good name slandered!" He shot Eddie a wink before looking down to take her hand. "See you around, Mr. K." 

* * *

Over the next few weeks, Richie started coming to pick Sarah up from school more frequently. Normally, as Eddie learned, Richie had afternoon meetings at the radio station that got done a little bit after school got out, which is why he never picked Sarah up from school. Richie’s mother would come and pick her up and get her settled at home until Richie arrived about a half hour later. He could take her to school in the mornings, dropping her off an hour early with before-school care so he could do his morning talk show at the radio station.

Every time he came to pick Sarah up, Richie would linger at the school to talk to Eddie, staying a little longer each time he came. After a month or so, he was waiting with him until all of the kids in his class had been picked up before finally taking Sarah home. According to Richie, his mornings with her were the best part of his day, so he’d been ducking out of his meetings early to spend more time with her (and to see Eddie, but he didn’t need to divulge that information).

So February turned into March, and by the time parent-teacher conferences were approaching, Richie had been picking Sarah up from school every single day—it had been at least two weeks since Eddie had seen Richie’s mom. He sometimes wondered how Richie hadn’t gotten in trouble at work for missing meetings, but when he asked, Richie always just shrugged and said something vague about how “They’d never fire me. I’m the best they’ve got.” Eddie agreed, but he thought that may be slightly biased. It had been a little over a month of this almost daily flirting, and Eddie couldn’t help but be a little excited for conferences; any excuse to spend time with Richie gave him butterflies in his stomach.

The day before conferences, when Richie picked Sarah up after school, he didn’t loiter for as long as usual, simply saying, “Can’t wait for tomorrow…” with a wink before finding Sarah and heading home. Eddie was slightly disappointed, as he’d grown accustomed over the last five weeks to having the company while he waited for all of his kids to leave. As he stood there alone, watching as the last few stragglers got picked up, he let his mind wander. What was he doing? What was going on? 

He liked Richie, and wow did he think Richie was one of the most beautiful people he’d ever had the pleasure of laying his eyes on, but he wasn’t sure of Richie’s intentions. The whole situation was slightly weird, he was Richie’s kid’s teacher–Richie had a kid. Richie had a kid. A kid who was very obviously his, she looked so much like him that Eddie knew it would be painful to see her every day if Richie didn’t actually like him in the way Eddie had convinced himself he did over the last month. He had a biological kid, so chances were that he wasn’t gay. What if this whole time what Eddie had thought was flirting had just been Richie’s boisterous personality–he was a radio talk show host, after all, so he was a pretty loud, charming guy. 

After this realization, Eddie spent the better part of the evening pacing around his apartment nervously, biting his nails down to stubs. He went through every detail of every interaction he could remember from the last month, trying to figure out if he had been projecting his own feelings for Richie, but he couldn’t clear anything up himself. It felt like all of his memories were distorted from the butterflies Richie gave him every time they were together. He was just looking at everything through a pair of rose-tinted coke bottle glasses. As he went to sleep that night, he just hoped the next day would be a good opportunity to figure out how Richie felt–and apparently, Richie had a similar idea.

* * *

 “Okay so what the fuck are we doing here,” Richie blurted out immediately after sitting down across from Eddie, the two of them alone in his classroom.

“Um… I–I just, I don'tknowwhat–” Eddie stammered, taken aback.

“Sorry, that was a little aggressive.” Richie chuckled softly, leaning forward in his chair and resting his elbows on his knees. “Let’s just start over and pretend I didn’t say that,” Richie was blushing now, “maybe just have a normal parent-teacher conference? How’s Sarah been doing?”

“Okay, this is a question I actually know the answer to,” Eddie laughed. “She’s doing amazing, as if that’s even something that you weren’t sure of already. She’s the perfect kid, I don’t know how you did it,” Eddie smiled, shaking his head.

“She really is… to be honest with you I have no fucking idea either,” Richie said, beaming. “She’s nothing like what I was like when I was a kid–my mom reminds me of that every day. I was a handful… I still am.”

“It’s nice that your mom is so involved in her life. Sarah talks about her all the time, it’s really sweet,” Eddie replied.

“Yeah, my mom always wanted a girl,” Richie said, leaning back in his chair. “So when I told my parents I’d knocked up my girlfriend right out of college and that I needed help with a baby girl they were quick to offer a lot of assistance. More than I could have expected, but I really fuckin needed it. I had—” he laughed. It was warm, hearty, “I _have_ no clue what I’m doing.”

“Well she’s turned out wonderfully,” Eddie said, “I honestly don’t even think we needed to have a parent-teacher conference. She is the most well-behaved child in the class, plus we see each other pretty much every day anyway.”

“Yeah, speaking of that…” Richie started, and Eddie could tell that he was nervous: he was looking down, suddenly very interested in the pattern of the fake wood paneling on the top of Eddie’s desk. He ran a hand through his messy hair before speaking again, “I was thinking I’d kinda like to see a little more of you… maybe? Like outside of a Sarah setting? Maybe we could get dinner sometime? …Just the two of us?” Richie, who had been avoiding eye contact the whole time he spoke, finally looked up at Eddie through thick lashes, his deep brown eyes searching Eddie’s almost desperately.

Eddie’s stomach started to churn—not butterflies this time, though. This was all he’d been wanting for the last month but at that moment it hit him that there was no way it could work, at least not yet–the school had rules about this sort of thing. Eddie had been hoping to clear things up a bit today, but he really hadn’t been expecting Richie to be so forward. He sat there lost in thought for a little too long, which he realized when Richie cleared his throat and started to push his chair back from the desk as he said awkwardly, “Oh my god, I’ve been totally reading this wrong… I’m so embarrassed thought you were-”

“Gay? I am.” Eddie interrupted, a little colder than he had intended.

“I was just going to say flirting with me… but if that’s not what’s been happening…” Richie let himself trail off, blushing and avoiding eye contact again, fiddling with his long, narrow fingers in his lap.

“No, I definitely have been when I definitely should not have been,” Eddie said as he put his elbows up on the desk and held his head in his hands, closing his eyes.

“Then why are we fucking around? Go to dinner with me.” Richie said, a little more confidently than he had the last time.

Eddie looked up, devastated when he saw Richie’s hopeful face. “We can’t.” He said so quietly it was almost inaudible.

Richie’s face fell and it broke Eddie’s heart right then and there. “Why? Because you’re my kid’s teacher? Fuck that.”

“The school has rules about this sort of thing. You can’t date the parent of a kid in your class. I could lose my job.”

Richie countered, “That’s bullshit. What if we just don’t tell anyone?" 

Eddie smiled, “You have a six-year-old daughter, six-year-olds aren’t exactly notorious for being the best at keeping secrets.”

“We can figure that out later,” Richie sighed, “She doesn’t have to know right away.”

“Richie, I think we both know that she is smart enough to figure shit out on her own. We shouldn’t." 

“We MUST. I NEED to go on a date with you, Eds,” Richie said, in that almost joking tone he’d used before a million times, but his eyes always betrayed his thoughts: he was begging.

“Richie,” Eddie pleaded. “Maybe in another world where I wasn’t Sarah’s teacher, and we’d met through a mutual friend or whatever bullshit way people meet nowadays, things would have worked out. But as of right now this would just get us both in trouble." 

Richie abruptly scooted his chair back from the desk, the legs scraping against the tile floor loudly. “Well, I’m glad my daughter is doing well in school.” He leaned forward, placing both hands on Eddie’s desk to be closer to his eye level, “This has been a very _informative_ conference, Mr. Kaspbrak, have a nice rest of your evening.” With that, he straightened back up, brushed off the front of his sweater, and turned on his heel to walk towards the door. Eddie watched him make his way across the classroom and put his head on his desk, holding tears back until he heard the door swing shut a few seconds later. 

* * *

The following day was the day before spring break, and Eddie couldn’t have been more grateful. After the emotionally exhausting evening that had been parent-teacher conferences, he needed the week off to decompress. He had big plans to watch Netflix all week, only moving from his bed to his living room and back again. As the school day drew to a close, none of the kids could sit still, so he decided to just let them watch an episode of _Bill Nye the Science Guy_ for the last part of the day. After he started the show and turned the lights off, he returned to his desk and scanned around the room to make sure everyone was paying attention. His eyes fell on Sarah, arms crossed over her desk, her little chin nestled on them; huge eyes watching the screen intently from behind her glasses. 

He had been right about how painful it would be to see her, but it wasn’t for the same reason he’d been worried about–this one was much worse. For Richie to actually share the feelings he’d had for the last month but to know they couldn’t act on them was far worse than simply being rejected. Eddie could handle rejection, it had happened to him multiple times before—being a gay man in small-town Maine wasn’t incredibly easy; rejection came with the territory. But to find someone, finally, who reciprocated his feelings just felt like a cruel joke. He’d never felt anything quite like it before, even after he’d broken up with his first boyfriend in college.

When he took the class outside at the end of the day, Sarah stuck close by him as usual, and once most of the kids had left, he felt a soft tap on his arm. He looked down to see her looking up at him with sad eyes, “Do you think Daddy is running late?” she asked.

“I’m sure he’s coming, sweetheart. He always does,” Eddie said back reassuringly. Except, today, he didn’t come. Maggie Tozier did. Sarah had just skipped off happily to her grandmother and told Eddie to have a good spring break, leaving him standing there in a heartbreak of his own making.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (This chapter was updated on 08/05/2018)

Spring break for Eddie was about 50% Netflix, 50% pining. His mom called him a few times, trying to get him to make the short trip up to Bangor to see her since he had the whole week off, but he told her he was behind on grading (which he wasn’t, he taught first grade, there wasn’t anything to grade) but that had gotten her off his back, which was all he’d needed it to do. He just wanted to be alone and watch sad romantic movies, eat Ben & Jerry’s, and occasionally cry about Richie. He was dreading the following week when he'd have to go back to school, he really didn’t know if he could handle another six weeks of teaching a tiny, spitting image of Richie after everything that had happened.

Eddie lived in a small house that was about a ten-minute drive from the elementary school. It wasn’t the nicest house, but he was pretty damn proud of it considering he’d bought it himself at twenty-three years old just a few months after he’d moved to Derry. He kept the landscaping nice and neat, and the inside of the house was almost obsessively clean–there was never a dish in the sink. It was an older house, as most of the houses in Derry were, but Eddie had completely fixed up the inside after he'd bought it. He'd saved up a considerable amount of money in college working a full-time job while attending school, mostly as an excuse to stay out of the house as much as possible after his mother refused his propositions to move out. The first order of business had been a complete remodel of the kitchen and bathroom, and he did a lot of the work himself to save money. The rest of the house had just needed a fresh coat of paint, and he'd gone with a soft, muted gray on all of the walls. He'd done it slowly, piece by piece, over his first two years of working, spending a few weeks back with his mother in Bangor at nights while the bathroom had been out of commission over one summer.

It had two bedrooms, but the second bedroom was completely unused, except for a few boxes he’d never gotten around to unpacking, and a piano that was his friend Bill’s. After Bill’s parents moved out of Derry, he couldn’t bring himself to get rid of the piano his mother had played throughout his childhood, so Eddie had offered to store it for him until he moved to a bigger place. He had met Bill in college, he was a senior when Eddie was a freshman, and he'd turned into a mentor of sorts for Eddie. He was the one Eddie had gone to for class recommendations, questions about working; Eddie had really relied on him his senior year for advice about student teaching and technical questions about certification-related issues. They'd become close friends in those three years after Bill graduated, during which he had taught at his alma mater Derry Elementary, and when one of the first-grade teachers had decided to move out of state, he put a good word in for Eddie with the administration. 

The day Eddie got the job, he called Bill ecstatic, ready to thank him profusely for hooking him up. When Bill answered the phone, Eddie learned that Bill had also been offered a job at Derry Elementary for that year: the principal had abruptly stepped down with no notice or apparent reason for doing so, and they had reached out to Bill to fill the position. It was what Bill had wanted for the last year or so, he had discovered quickly that he was better suited to administration work where he would deal mostly with adults, his patience had been worn thin during his first three years teaching. 

When Eddie first announced he’d gotten a job in Derry, his mother had been hesitant to let him move away from Bangor, but he convinced her that it was not that much further away than where he’d just spent four years in college. He’d graduated from the University of Maine in May, and at that point, Derry Elementary had been in contact with him for about a month. He’d joined the staff that August.

About to complete his third year of teaching, he had never been in a situation similar to what had been going on with Richie for the last five weeks. He had never pined over anyone, never had feelings like this for anyone before. Richie ran through his mind every waking moment, which was something he had never experienced and had assumed was just a concept made up by Hollywood to sell movie tickets. But this was so much different than he expected it would be. He knew that he and Richie were not allowed to be in a relationship, but ever since Richie had asked him out, Eddie had been pining, pondering, planning. He needed some way to make this work. By the end of spring break, he’d decided to just fuck it and keep flirting, he felt like he was dying without seeing Richie every day. He needed to make Richie want him again, but he was sure he’d still be on Richie’s bad side for a while after the way he’d left their meeting. 

* * *

Monday morning rolled around and seeing Sarah again just tore Eddie’s heart out. He somehow managed to make it through the day, with some help from Mike calming him down in response to the frantic text messages Eddie spammed him with all day:

**[7:45am] Eddie: Dude, I’m not going to survive. The day hasn’t even started yet but I just saw Sarah at the before-school care and I want to cry. Why am I like this???**

[7:47am] Mike: You have got to get a grip. You made the right decision, you said it yourself and you know it’s true, you’d just get in trouble. Plus I don’t want you losing your job, you’ll miss all the school gossip and be so lost when we hang out with Billiam.

 ******[12:23pm] Eddie: I WANT TO DIE WHAT IF HE COMES TO PICK HER UP TODAY**

**[12:23pm] Eddie: Oh my god but what if he doesn't**

**[12:23pm] Eddie: I literally can’t decide which one is worse. WHICH ONE IS WORSE???**

[12:58pm] Mike: Brooo you need to get over this. What do you say we get Bill over and have some beers at my place tonight, wind down a little bit? There’s probably a preseason baseball game on.

**[1:14pm] Eddie: Fine.**

When 3:00 finally rolled around, Eddie was relieved, to say the least. It had been a long day, and he knew he had come back the next, but at least he had hanging out with Bill and Mike to look forward to that night. As he walked his class out of the school, he thought about what type of beer he’d buy from the store on his way home a little later. When he got outside though, he was surprised to see Richie’s car parked right at the front of the carpool line–the guy must have been waiting there for at least a half hour to get to the front of the line, some of the parents were crazy. He watched as Richie got out of the car and made his way over to Eddie and his flock of children. Sarah, always his shadow, tugged on his sleeve and sung out, “He’s maaaad at youuuu.”  _Damn bitch me too_ , Eddie thought to himself.

Richie closed the distance between them quickly, using his long legs to his advantage. He knelt down and kissed Sarah on the forehead before standing up quickly and looking down at Eddie. “I need a word with you, Mr. Kaspbrak.” He said in a mockingly professional tone.

“Well shit,” Eddie whispered back, “Okay, but we have to wait until everyone gets picked up, you know the drill.” So they waited. By about 3:25 everyone had either made it on the bus or been picked up, so the three of them could make their way inside. Eddie couldn’t help but think that when they walked together like this, with Sarah in between them, they could almost look like a little family. He shook his head back and forth to get the thought out of his mind.

Once they got into the classroom, Eddie shut the door softly behind them and spun around to face Richie. Both men opened their mouths at the same time, speaking a mile a minute over each other before they realized. They both chuckled, and Sarah giggled quietly as she made her way over to her desk to sit back down, watching the two of them smiling at each other, their cheeks hot. “Sorry, you go first,” Richie said.

“I’ve been regretting what happened between us ever since you left that day I’m sorryIwas just nervousandscaredand I–” Eddie let the words fall out of his mouth as he looked down at his feet; cut off when Richie stepped forward and put his finger under Eddie’s chin. Richie pulled his face up so they could make eye contact and Eddie reluctantly looked up into his eyes, feeling his cheeks go redder at the sight of Richie’s dark eyes searching his.

“You’re so cute when you blush, Eds.” Richie said softly, their faces just inches apart now, the two breathing the same air. Eddie rolled his eyes at the nickname, but he could feel the brush spreading, crawling to his ears and down his neck. “I’m really glad you feel that way though, don’t know how I made it through last week without seeing your cute face every day. I was about ready to die.” Richie added with a smile.

“Me too.” Eddie said nervously, the two still very close, their chests almost touching. 

“Well thank  _fuck_.” He said quietly so Sarah wouldn’t hear the profanity, and took a step back, laughing. “You hear that Sarah? He wanted to die too!” 

Sarah just rolled her eyes at her dad from her desk where she was now seated. She looked over to Eddie and said deadpan, “He cried like four times last week. I don’t get it.” 

“Oh my god, Sarah. Jesus christ. I said we weren’t gonna talk about… Oh my god.” Richie was now blushing furiously. Sarah just shrugged and looked down, pushing her glasses up on her face and opening one of the 4 books in her desk, starting to read from where she’d left off earlier. Eddie noticed that she fixed her glasses the same way Richie fixed his the few times Eddie had seen him wearing them. “So.. um.. anywaaayy…” Richie trailed off awkwardly, making eye contact with Eddie again as if begging him to take over the conversation.

He obliged, ignoring Sarah’s comment out of respect for Richie, “So that dinner?” Eddie asked quietly; Richie leaned back against Eddie’s desk, minimizing their height difference a bit.

“That dinner. Are you free tonight? Is that too soon? I’m sorry I haven’t done this in a while.” He chuckled nervously.

“Um, I have plans tonight… What about this weekend?”

“We’re actually going up to Bangor this weekend to see some of my friends who moved up there a few years ago. We can just figure it out later, maybe next weekend.”

“Next weekend would be great.” Eddie smiled as he walked over to his desk, searching for a sticky note. He quickly wrote his phone number down on it and handed it over to Richie. “We have to keep this a secret though, at least for the next six weeks.” He said, looking nervously over at Sarah.

Richie followed his gaze and laughed. “I don’t think we need to worry much about her, she’s good at keeping things on the DL,” he said to Eddie. “You can do that. Right, princess?” He said, a little louder this time so she would hear. She just gave a thumbs up from behind her book, not even looking up.

Eddie was apprehensive about the entire situation, but he decided to trust Richie’s judgment. Richie immediately programmed Eddie’s phone number into his phone and winked at him, before sliding his coat back on and getting Sarah into hers. Eddie watched them walk down the hall and get into Richie’s car, and it took everything in him not to cheer out loud. He was absolutely beaming when he walked back over to his desk and picked up his phone to a text from an unknown number with a California area code.

[3:42pm] Richie: Hey there, Eds. Probably a good idea that you have my cell phone number anyway. You know, in case of any more emergencies. ;)

**[3:45pm] Eddie: Had you even left the building yet?**

[3:45pm] Richie: Nope.

* * *

Eddie got home around 4:15, after finishing up some things he had needed to prepare for class the following day. He knew he was going to have to tell Mike about what had happened after school, and that Mike was absolutely not going to be pleased with him. He thought it would be a good idea to arrive before Bill so he could explain what had happened to Mike; he didn’t need any part of this situation being brought up in front of Bill.

**[4:19pm] Eddie: Hey, something happened with Richie today, I want to talk to you about it tonight. Before Bill gets there. Can I come around 6:30 instead of 7?**

[4:28pm] Mike: Oh you don’t want the principal hearing about your escapades with the parents of the children in your class? What a surprise!

[4:29pm] Mike: But yeah that’s fine, see you then

Eddie arrived at Mike's at 6:20, too antsy to stand sitting around at home any longer. He knocked on the door with a six-pack in one hand and a dish of homemade dip in the other. Mike opened the door quickly, smiling warmly at Eddie as he ushered him inside. "You really didn't have to make dip, I was thinking we'd just order pizza or something." 

Eddie shrugged, "You know I'm a nervous cook, I needed to do something with my hands." 

Mike led them into the kitchen, taking the dip from Eddie and putting it on the counter before rifling around in his pantry for a bag of chips. "Alright, spill the beans you little harlot," he said over his shoulder. After a few seconds of silence, Mike fully turned around, snapping his fingers to get Eddie's attention, "Ed!"

Eddie's eyes snapped up from his phone screen, "Oh, sorry. What?"

Mike eyed him suspiciously, "Who are you...? Oh my god."

Eddie put his phone on the counter face-down, "It's... my mom?" Eddie tried.

"We both know that woman doesn't text. What happened today, dude?" 

Eddie sighed. "Okay. Well. He definitely came to pick Sarah up today. And he  _definitely_ likes me too."

Mike chuckled, "I could have told you that much, he has been standing outside for thirty minutes a day with you in twelve-degree weather for a month. Either he liked you or he's just a mental patient." 

"Okay, yeah. So we like... exchanged numbers today. 

Mike raised his eyebrows. "Continue." 

"Uh. We've just been texting. Just a little bit."

"We have both heard your phone vibrate like nine times in the time we've been standing here. So yeah, a little bit." 

Eddie grinned. "Yeah." 

"Oh my god you are ridiculous. Just. Be careful, okay? You don't need Bill finding out about this. It's his first year in charge. I'd really like it if you both got to keep your jobs, I kind of like working with you two."

"Yeah, I will. Wanna order the pizza now?" 

Mike nodded, "Sure. I bet Bill will be here soon. I'll call the place, should we just get the usual?"

"Works for me," Eddie said, picking his phone back up from the counter to read the texts he'd missed from Richie. 


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is technically chapter 3.5, but I can't format it that way! Just some background on their lives through what they were texting during the last chapter.

[3:42pm] Richie: Hey there, Eds. Probably a good idea that you have my cell phone number anyway. You know, in case of any more emergencies. ;)

**[3:45pm] Eddie: Had you even left the building yet?**

[3:45pm] Richie: Nope.

**[3:44pm] Eddie: Also, if it makes you feel better, I feel like there probably won’t be any more emergencies this year. Sarah’s asthma is so well controlled, you should have seen me at her age.**

[3:45pm] Richie: Little Eddie Spaghetti wasn’t doin so hot at age 6 then?

**[3:45pm] Eddie: I’ve told you how I feel about the nicknames. Where do you even come up with shit like that? But no, I literally had to carry my inhaler around with me everywhere in a fanny pack, so**

[3:46pm] Richie: Oh my god 

[3:46pm] Richie: No fucking way  

[3:46pm] Richie: How are you so cute?? 

**[3:49pm] Eddie: ………**

[3:49pm] Richie: That is ridiculous. You’re the cutest fucking human I swear.

[3:50pm] Richie: !!!akfhjg

**[3:51pm] Eddie: Richie?**

[3:51pm] Richie: hi!!!!!!?)4& 

**[3:55pm] Eddie: ???**

[4:04pm] Richie: Hahaha oh fuck Sarah had my phone, I didn’t think she would leave her game during the car ride home 

**[4:10pm] Eddie: Oh my god**

[4:12pm] Richie: But anyway, back to you being the cutest person in the world

[4:13pm] Richie: Where are you from? I grew up in Derry and it’s pretty small, so I’d know you if you were from here. Your face would be hard to forget (;

**[4:13pm] Eddie: Yeah I’m actually from Bangor, so not far from here. This was as far away as my mom would let me move after college.**

[4:14pm] Richie: Can’t relate, my parents couldn’t wait to get me out of the house for college. I moved to California for 5 years after high school, I’m only back because I didn’t really think i could raise a kid on my own.

**[4:15pm] Eddie: Why California?**

[4:16pm] Richie: I needed to get out of Maine. And the full ride to UCLA wasn’t bad either.

**[4:16pm] Eddie: Jesus, that’s impressive.**

[4:18pm] Richie: Yeah, I was a pretty smart kid, despite the ADHD. I’m glad I didn’t pass that one on to Sarah, she’s got enough to deal with getting my godawful eyesight.

**[4:20pm] Eddie: So what did you do in California after you graduated?**

[4:21pm] Richie: Worked in radio, like I do now. I interned with a pretty big station all 4 years I was in college, and they offered me a job right out of school. I had my own show a few months later, did that for about a year and a half until Sarah.

**[4:24pm] Eddie: Again, very impressive.**

[4:25pm] Richie: What about you? You’re rather young to be in your 3rd year of teaching. 

**[4:25pm] Eddie: Yeah actually, the school reached out to me right before I graduated from college. Moved here that summer.**

[4:26pm] Richie: And isn’t Derry just the most charming, boring little town you’ve ever been to?

**[4:29pm] Eddie: I find it quite nice, surprisingly. Everyone from here seems to have a certain disdain for it, but I suppose that’s just how it is no matter where you grew up.**

[4:31pm] Richie: Yeah. Gets old after a while.

**[4:32pm] Eddie: You came back though, so it can’t be all bad.**

[4:35pm] Richie: Gotta say, Derry’s a lot more interesting with you in it. Wanna hear a funny story?

**[4:36 pm] Eddie: Sure**

[4:38 pm] Richie: I’m sure you’re curious about Sarah’s mother anyway, so I’ll just get it out of the way so you don’t have to awkwardly ask.

**[4:38 pm] Eddie: You don’t have to if you don’t want to, really. It’s up to you.**

[4:40 pm] Richie: No, I want you to know. 

[4:46 pm] Richie: So I met a girl named Sandy about a year into college. We dated for a while, then moved in together. We’d discussed getting married and having kids, but decided we didn’t really want either. I just decided to get my wires cut, it was the easiest option really. About a year after we graduated, she got offered an awesome job in Washington, and that was that. I didn’t want to leave my job at the station, I was in a really good place. About a month after we split, she called me saying that she was pregnant somehow. She didn’t want a baby, she was just starting her career and had a lot on her plate, but I felt like if after everything, she still got pregnant, we should keep it. You know? The chances of a vasectomy failing is lower than getting struck by lightning. So she told me that I could keep the baby as long as she didn’t have to be a part of the equation. She calls every once in a while to check in on us, but she never really wanted to be involved in the first place, so she keeps it casual.

**[4:50 pm] Eddie: Damn. I don’t know how she doesn’t want to be a part of Sarah’s life, especially if she talks to her. She's the smartest kid I've ever met.**

[4:51 pm] Richie: I don’t really get it either, the kid is my whole world. But we each made a decision, she respected mine so I respect hers.

**[4:52 pm] Eddie: I guess that’s fair. Is it hard for Sarah though? Without a mom?**

[4:55 pm] Richie: I hope not, my mother adores her so they spend quite a bit of time together. She always wanted a girl, and Sarah’s so quiet, so they get along well. Plus my friend Beverly has also been a pretty big part of her life, she’s the one we’re visiting this weekend in Bangor. Sarah loves her and her husband Ben so much. 

**[4:56 pm] Eddie: That’ll be good for her. Not much to do up in Bangor though, it’s boring as hell.**

[4:56 pm] Richie: Maybe I’ll hit up your mom, I’m assuming she still lives there?

**[4:58 pm] Eddie: You’re disgusting.**

[4:59 pm] Richie: Oh, come on, Eds. You’re the cutest, but I bet she’s cuter.

5:10 pm

[5:10 pm] Richie: Okay fine sorry

**[5:10 pm] Eddie: ANYWAY, w **hat are you up to?****

[5:11 pm] Richie: Well, I’m just watching tv and texting you, and Sarah’s in her room coloring. She likes to be by herself for a little while after school, apparently being around people wears her out. Which I’ve never understood. I’m too much of an extrovert, I hate spending time alone. 

**[5: 13 pm] Eddie: **Yeah that doesn’t surprise me at all.****

[5:13 pm] Richie: ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ At least I’ve got you to keep me company, right Eds?

5:44 pm

[5:44 pm] Richie: STOP

**[5:45 pm] Eddie: Stop calling me Eds then!**

[5:45 pm] Richie: You know I can’t do that

**[5:47 pm] Eddie: I hate you.**

[5:48 pm] Richie: I think we both know that’s untrue

**[5:50 pm] Eddie: You may be the most annoying person I've ever met, that much is true**

[5:50 pm] Richie: I’ve been told that’s part of my charm ;)

**[5:51 pm] Eddie: Okay, whatever helps you get to sleep at night**

[5:32 pm] Richie: Can I ask you a question?

**[5:52 pm] Eddie: Fire away.**

[5:54 pm] Richie: You said this was as far away as your mom would let you move after college. Why?

**[6:02 pm] Eddie: She was ridiculously overprotective of me as a kid, and just never really let up. That’s why I went to U Maine, it’s literally a 20 minute drive from my house. Well, her house now I guess.**

[6:03 pm] Richie: That’s rough

**[6:03 pm] Eddie: Yeah she didn’t even let me move out until my senior year, and I basically had to tell her I was moving out or moving away.**

[6:05 pm] Richie: I can’t even imagine.

**[6:06 pm] Eddie: Eh, it wasn’t that bad, I know it’s just because she cares. Plus I got really good at hiding things during high school, so that’s coming in handy currently.**

[6:08 pm] Richie: I knew I could trust you!

**[6:12 pm] Eddie: Yeah it’s you I worry about.**

[6:25 pm] Richie: Oh please, you’re such a drama queen.

[6:28 pm] Richie: Hey hang on I gotta make dinner for Sarah and me real quick, I’ll text you when I’m finished. 

[6:28 pm] Richie: I have dropped my phone in the sink on more than one occasion, so I just don’t bring it in the kitchen with me anymore.

**[6:33 pm] Eddie: How are you a real person who is a functioning adult with a child**

[6:33pm] Richie: Key word there is functioning, Eds.

7:03 pm

[8:03 pm] Richie: Okay I’m back, how much did you miss me?

**[8:10 pm] Eddie: Oh, I actually cried while you were gone.**

[8:12pm] Richie: I’m gonna kill her for telling you that.

**[8:13 pm] Eddie: Yeah, it seems like she’s so great at “keeping things on the DL”**

[8:15 pm] Richie: I actually do think she’ll be fine, I talked to her about it at dinner tonight. She’s pretty smart, I think she understands.

**[8:18 pm] Eddie: God, I hope so.**

[8:21 pm] Richie: What are you up to tonight?

**[8:25 pm] Eddie: Just hanging out with some work friends, they’re both from here too actually, you probably know them.**

[8:27 pm] Richie: Probably, everyone knows everyone here. They go to school here?

**[8:30 pm] Eddie: Yup, one did. Bill Denbrough, he’s my age. Mike Hanlon went to the catholic school. But they both work with me now.**

[8:32 pm] Richie: Haha yeah I know both of them, you gonna tell the principal about this situation? I didn’t realize you guys were friends. 

**[8:36 pm] Eddie: Nah, he doesn’t need to know.**

[8:39 pm] Richie: Thank god. But yeah, I was friends with Bill way back when he used to have a stutter, but we kinda lost touch once I went to middle school since he was 3 years behind me. I just know of Mike, we never really hung out though.

**[8:40 pm] Eddie: Oh I didn’t realize you were older than me, guess I never really thought about it though.**

[8:44 pm] Richie: I’m older, more sophisticated

[8:44 pm] Richie: more,,,, ~expErieNCed~~

**[8:48 pm] Eddie: Remind me again why I gave you my phone number**

[8:50 pm] Richie: Oh it’s because you find me absolutely irresistible. You know you love this. 

**[8:51 pm] Eddie: Oooo that would be where you’re wrong, my friend.**

[8:52 pm] Richie: Just friend? You wound me, Eds. 

**[8:52 pm] Eddie: Okay so I’ve just been yelled at for being on my phone too much… I’d better go… Will I see you tomorrow?**

[8:54 pm] Richie: Unless you see me first in your dreams tonight. ;)

**[8:57 pm] Eddie: Goodbye, Richie.**

[9:01 pm] Richie: Bye, Spaghetti.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (This chapter was updated on 08/06/2018)

Their actual date happened almost two weeks after the original plan had been made. Eddie stood in front of the mirror in his bathroom on Friday night, obsessively trying to fix his already perfect hair and adjusting his collar, which wouldn’t stay down for some reason. He decided to just change his shirt last-minute, and as he was pulling a new one on, his phone lit up.

**[5:56 pm] Richie: Here!**

_Shit._ He was early. Checking his hair one last time, Eddie sighed and ran down the stairs, grabbing his keys and wallet, shoving them in the pockets of his khakis along with the inhaler that was perpetually there whenever he left the house. He yanked on his coat and ran out the door with one final once-over in the mirror he had in his entryway. He ran almost right into Richie, who was standing on the front porch, just inches away from the door.

“Jesus christ, dude,” Eddie said, looking up at him. He was wearing dark jeans and a plain white t-shirt, layered under a warm looking flannel and an even warmer looking puffy black coat. 

“Sorry.” Richie blushed and turned around, leading the way back to his car which was parked in the driveway behind Eddie's. 

“You look great, by the way,” Richie said, smiling as he opened the passenger door for Eddie, watching with a grin as Eddie slid into the passenger seat. “Better than I could have ever imagined.” He ruffled Eddie’s hair as he spoke.

Eddie groaned. “Stop it! I  _just_ fixed that!” He pulled down the sunshade and flipped the mirror open, running his fingers through his hair to flatten it back down. He looked over to see Richie still smiling stupidly at him. “So what are we doing tonight?” Eddie asked.

“I just thought we could get dinner somewhere? I don’t know,” Richie said, running a hand through his own hair. 

“That would be nice.” Eddie returned Richie’s smile, “We could go to that little diner off of Kansas street.” 

“It’s like you read my mind, Eds. Sarah and I fuckin' love that place,” Richie said as he put the car in reverse and backed out of the narrow driveway. “Off we go!” Richie laughed as they drove away from Eddie’s house.

Upon arrival, they were seated quickly in the half-full diner, and shortly after, Richie ordered a hamburger, fries, also chicken tenders and a milkshake. Eddie got just a chicken sandwich and onion rings–-Richie still finished his meal first. They split the bill just in case anyone was there who knew them, which was very probable--they obviously couldn’t risk letting their date look like a date. 

After they finished, Richie took the long way back to Eddie’s so they could have more time to talk. He didn’t expect anything after, and felt like it would probably be a bad idea to move any further than just flirting, at least for the time being–they still had four whole weeks until the school year ended.

Richie pulled back into the driveway, jumping out and running around so he could open the door for Eddie before he got the chance. Richie walked him to his door, reaching out to grab both of Eddie’s hands in his own once they got there. “I had a wonderful time tonight,” he said, looking down at Eddie’s warm brown eyes, which were looking right back up into his. 

“I did too. Thank you.”

“I don’t know why you’re thanking me, I’ve gotta be the luckiest guy on the planet to snag you,” Richie said sweetly, and reached a hand up to cup Eddie’s cheek. He leaned down and placed a kiss into his hair, before pulling back and saying, “Alright, I’d better go…” Although he didn’t move an inch, or try to retract his hand from where his fingers were now interlaced with Eddie’s; his other one had at some point migrated from Eddie's jaw and found itself lost in his soft hair.

“Yeah…” Eddie whispered, leaning closer. 

Even distracted by Eddie’s soft hair and warm, dark eyes, Richie still felt the same way–they shouldn’t do anything, at least not yet. He wanted to--needed to, but his heart was hammering in his chest. Nervous, he stepped back and quickly stammered out, “Well I guess I’ll be going then.” He let his hand drop Eddie’s after giving it a tight squeeze. 

“Oh, okay,” Eddie said, letting himself look up into Richie’s eyes for another few seconds before fumbling in his pocket for his keys with his now free hand. He turned and placed the key in the lock, turning it. As he pushed the door open, he looked back over his shoulder one last time and said, “Night, Rich. Thanks again.”

“Thank  _you,_  Spaghetti. See you later.” Richie walked back to his car and got in, and he was unable to wipe the huge smile off his face for the remainder of the night. 

* * *

When Richie went to pick Sarah up from school the Tuesday after their date, Eddie wasn’t at school. Once they were back in the car, Richie spun around, his eyebrows knitted together, "Hey bug, where's Eddie?"

She shrugged, already opening up a book to read on the five-minute drive home. "I don't know his life, Dad. He's sick?" She rolled her eyes up to look towards the sky, thinking. "I think that's what they said."

"Oh. Okay," Richie replied, putting the car in reverse and heading out of the parking lot. Obviously, he texted Eddie immediately after they got home:

[3:18 pm] Richie: I missed you today... Sarah said you’re sick? 

**[3:20 pm] Eddie: I just had an asthma attack in the middle of the night last night and didn’t want to risk another one if I’d gone in today. But it’s not a big deal**

[3:20 pm] Richie: Oh my god yes that’s a big deal! Want me to bring you soup 

 **[3:21 pm] Eddie: Stop it, you sound like my mother. Also you know soup’s not gonna do anything right?**  

[3:23 pm] Richie: Yes yes but you know I don’t care right? I’m coming over.

**[3:25 pm] Eddie: Well, I guess I wouldn’t mind some human interaction seeing as I haven’t left the house today, but you don’t need to bring soup.**

**[3:25 pm] Eddie: Wait if Sarah told you I was sick then aren’t you with her? You can’t just up and come over here.**

[3:26 pm] Richie: I’ll just drop her at my parents’ for dinner and pick her back up in a few hours, they’ll be fine with it. 

**[3:30 pm] Eddie: Well, alright then.**

[3:30 pm] Richie: Hey wait you’re not gonna get me sick right? 

**[3:31 pm] Eddie: It truly concerns me how little you know about this, Richie**

[3:32 pm] Richie: It truly concerns me that you can’t tell when I’m joking, Eds.

Richie showed up about an hour later with a can of chicken noodle soup. “Wait god damn it I should have gotten spaghetti-o’s for my Eddie-o,” Richie whined as he walked into Eddie’s house, eyeing him. He looked adorable and cozy, bundled up in a pair of soft joggers and a sweater that was too large, the sleeves of which he had pulled down over his hands to keep them warm. 

“Is it too late to change my mind? This actually is super contagious, you’ll probably fall fatally ill if you stay here,” Eddie said, feigning a cough and accidentally setting himself off, hacking a few times as he closed the door behind Richie.

Once he'd stopped coughing and turned back around, Richie grinned and pinched his cheek. “Worth it,” he said, making Eddie blush. He led the way into his kitchen so Richie could set the can of soup down on the counter. “So you going to give me the grand tour, or what Mr. Kaspbrak?" 

"Sure, but I wouldn’t say grand. This place is pretty small.” Eddie said, looking around. 

“Nonsense, it’s fantastic!” Richie said as he followed Eddie’s gaze. The place was so  _Eddie._ He couldn’t put his finger on what it was that made it seem so much like him, it was just everything about it. It was spotless, he probably cleaned every day. He had the walls decorated with some tasteful black & white photos, a few maps on the wall here and there, and plants scattered around on end tables. 

“Alright, well you’ve already seen the kitchen and the living room out here, I can show you the rest of the house if you want.” Eddie motioned for him to follow, leading him up a flight of stairs off of the kitchen. “Sorry, I gotta walk up these slowly, I’m still not fully back to normal after last night... It was... not great.” Eddie said, and he was glad Richie couldn’t see his blush. 

“That’s okay, gives me more time to check out your ass,” Richie snorted. Eddie ignored the comment and turned once they got to the top of the staircase, making his way into his room.

Eddie’s bedroom looked almost exactly how Richie was expecting it would. A tiny side table sat next to the bed in the corner, which was covered with approximately seventeen pillows and an incredibly plush looking light gray blanket, almost white compared to the dark gray of the walls; it was a nice contrast. Not much other furniture filled the room, besides a small, comfortable looking chair nestled in one corner, next to which was a huge bookshelf, overflowing with books. The chair had a tall lamp behind it–-it was obviously used just for reading.  _Fuck, that is so cute._ Richie thought to himself as he looked around, eyes landing on the only other piece of furniture in the room–-a desk by the wall opposite Eddie’s bed, which had nothing on its surface but, impossibly, more fucking books.

“Ah, so this is where the magic happens?” Richie turned to look down at Eddie, standing almost on his toes. He chuckled as he watched Eddie shake his head and sigh, breath still whistling a bit from the stairs. They both turned their gaze back to the room, Richie peeking at the contents of thebookshelf.

“I really don’t understand why I like you,” Eddie said and turned on his heel to lead the way down the short hall to the other bedroom, basically his “storage” room. He turned around before he got there to see Richie still standing in his room looking around. Whether he hadn’t noticed Eddie leave, or if he was just creeping, Eddie couldn’t tell. “You coming, Rich?” He asked, at which Richie spun around and walked quickly over to Eddie.

“Sorry. Looking at all your books,” he said quietly. 

“I read a lot,” Eddie said with a small shrug, “So this is the end of the tour I guess, there’s really not much to see in here…” Eddie opened the door of the other bedroom as he trailed off, motioning for Richie to look in, and he watched as Richie’s face lit up. 

“You play the piano!?” He asked excitedly. 

“No, I wish. Just keeping it for someone,” Eddie said, looking at Richie--out of context, his expression looked like a reaction to finding out that Eddie had been hiding a puppy in the room the whole time, not a dusty, thirty-year-old piano.

“Mind if I have a go?”

“Sure, but it hasn’t been touched for like two years, I don’t know how it’ll sound.”

“I’m sure it’ll be great, Eds,” Richie said, kissing him on the cheek before pushing through the doorway and bounding over to the grand piano. He sat down on the bench and patted the spot next to him, looking up at Eddie with hopeful eyes, “Join me?”

Eddie made his way over, his sock feet padding across the hardwood floor. He sat down next to Richie, who began playing a song Eddie had never heard. He watched Richie’s long, slender fingers move effortlessly across the keys; it was beautiful.

“I just have a keyboard at home, I haven’t played a grand in years,” Richie whispered, awestruck. He looked over at Eddie, eyes sparkling. He wasn’t paying attention to his hands but they were still playing the tune perfectly, a soft, slow melody. Without thinking about it, Eddie just laid his head on Richie’s shoulder and watched him play. At this, the tune slowed down and moved up a key, and Eddie felt himself almost drifting off to sleep–he was exhausted from the lack of sleep the night before. 

Richie noticed him nodding off after a while and stopped playing, moving his hands to pick up Eddie’s face and cup his hands around his cheeks. Eddie looked up at him through heavy lids, smiling. “Can I kiss you?” Richie asked.

Instead of replying, Eddie just leaned in and placed a chaste kiss on his chapped lips. He pulled back to see Richie beaming and smiled back at him softly, his eyes still drooping a bit. “What do you say I make you that soup, huh sleepy head?” Richie asked, threading a finger through Eddie’s perfect hair, twirling a strand around one of his fingers. He nodded silently and they moved downstairs, where Eddie sat on his kitchen counter and watched as Richie fumbled around his kitchen and made them the soup, insisting repeatedly that Eddie wasn’t allowed to help him at all. 

“What were you playing? Upstairs. I’ve never heard it before.” Eddie asked as they sat down to eat.

“Oh, it’s not a song. I was just playing how you made me feel.” Richie said, looking down at his soup, swirling his spoon around in it absentmindedly. After what felt like an eternity of silence, Richie looked up, nervous he’d freaked Eddie out. 

But when he saw Eddie’s dumbfounded, lovestruck face he was shocked. Shocked that someone could look at him–-a lanky, skinny, exceptionally average looking idiot nerd-–the way Eddie currently was. “What?” He laughed.

“How are you even real.” Eddie murmured, eyes wide and dark with want. Or at least dark with  _something._ Eddie could tell that nothing would ever be the same after this. He'd never in his life felt those initial butterflies that he had with Richie, and he certainly had never felt this way before, the way he felt now looking across the table into Richie's deep, searching eyes. He didn't know if it was love, but it felt pretty damn close. 

Just then, Richie received a text from his mother:

**[6:44 pm] Maggie: Hey, we just finished up dinner. Sarah said she wants to go home and watch a movie with you, when will you be done with whatever it is you had to do?**

“Shit.” Richie said, looking up from the phone in his lap, back into Eddie’s brown eyes. “That was my mom. I gotta go get Sarah, she’s ready to go home.”

"Okay, that's fine!" 

They quickly finished their dinner, and Eddie walked Richie to the door slowly, loitering in the entryway. "Alright, well..." Eddie trailed off.

Richie leaned over and kissed him on the forehead, soft and lingering, then quickly squeezed Eddie’s ass playfully before disappearing through the door, waving as he sped off. Eddie fell asleep that night listening to a playlist of piano music, although none could compare to Richie’s.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (This chapter was updated 9/30/18)

The rest of that week was pretty uneventful, and as the week drew to a close, Richie was getting antsy. After he picked Sarah up from school on Friday, they hung out for a little while and ate an after school/work snack together. Around dinner time, Richie brought her over to his parents’ house for their weekly sleepover. 

Maggie and Wentworth used to watch her on Friday nights because he did a Friday evening show at the radio when he first moved to town, but he had since then moved his schedule around to be more accommodating for Sarah. So while he technically didn’t need his Friday nights anymore, his parents still wanted to keep the tradition, they enjoyed their nights with her; which left Richie alone most Friday nights. He would usually pester his childhood friend Stan into hanging out with him, but Stan was out of town on business for the weekend. Stan and Richie were the only ones left from their group of four after Ben and Beverly had gotten married a few years back and moved out to Bangor for Bev’s job, so they spent most of their free time together,

So here was Richie, incredibly alone, and super fucking bored on a Friday night. After trying to keep himself entertained for all of twenty minutes after he got home from his parents, he gave up.

[5:22 pm] Richie: Hey what are you doing right now? 

**[5:25 pm] Eddie: Depends, what are you going to say if I say nothing?**

[5:25 pm] Richie: Want to hang out? I’m bored.

Richie was now laying with his back on his couch, legs splayed up against the back of it, ankles crossed and resting against the wall.

**[5:27 pm] Eddie: Don’t you have a child or something?**

[5:27 pm] Richie: I just got home from dropping her off, she has a sleepover with my parents every Friday. So I’m alone and booored there’s nothing to do 

**[5:28 pm] Eddie: I mean sure I guess then. Not sure how much there is to do over here but…**

[5:28 pm] Richie: Be there in five. 

**[5:29 pm] Eddie: WAIT literally I’m gross right now let me take a shower and clean up a bit?**

[5:30 pm] Richie: Send me pics? ;) 

**[5:30 pm] Eddie: Fucking nope**

Eddie sent Richie a text after tidying up the house a bit and taking a shower. Richie hadn’t been kidding earlier, he did really get there in five minutes. It was finally a little warmer outside, there was no need for a heavy winter coat anymore, so Richie had just thrown on a dark gray sweater with a pair of blue jeans. Eddie couldn’t help but linger by the door to stare at Richie’s ass in his jeans after he’d let him in and closed the door behind them. 

Feeling eyes on him, Richie turned around and scoffed, “You checking me out Kaspbrak?” He asked suggestively, raising his eyebrows. 

“Maybe,” Eddie said casually, shocked at how easy it was to be confident when he was with Richie. They made their way into the living room, and Eddie watched as Richie plopped himself down on the sofa, extending his legs out in front of him. 

He threw an arm over the back of the sofa and looked up at Eddie. “So what have you been up to?“ 

“Well right before you texted me I was thinking about what to make for dinner… have you eaten yet?" 

"No, and I’m starving. Let’s do something.” He said, sitting up to make room for Eddie to sit next to him. 

Eddie sat down on the opposite side of the sofa, sitting sideways with his back against the arm and pulling his knees up in front of him. He wrapped his arms around his knees and rested his chin on them, looking across the sofa at Richie.

“Take out? Or do you want to make something?” Richie asked.

“Eh let’s just make something, I’ve got groceries here,” Eddie said, motioning for Richie to follow him into the kitchen.

“Okay! What should we make?” Richie asked, Eddie just shrugged and watched as Richie stood up and headed into the kitchen ahead of him. Richie started pilfering through the cabinets and refrigerator before finding enough ingredients to, apparently, make a meal. “I call this the Richie surprise. Sarah loves it!” He said with a grin.

“Absolutely not.” Eddie shut that shit down quickly, “I bought stuff to make chicken parmesan the other day let’s just do that. Jesus.” 

“Fine,” Richie mumbled as he began to put away waffle mix, noodles, carrots, chicken, and ranch dressing.

“Well, leave the chicken out, idiot.” Eddie laughed. He bustled around the kitchen, opening various cabinets and finding the rest of the ingredients he needed. 

Richie scoffed, “Wait do you not keep stuff on the top shelves of your cabinets?” He noted, smirking as he leaned against the counter watching Eddie move around the kitchen.

Eddie turned around, glared at Richie, and whipped back around, busying himself with finding the right page in a cookbook he’d pulled out of the cabinet above the stove. Richie just walked up behind him and leaned against his back, snaking his hands around Eddie’s waist and bending over to place his head in the crook of his neck. Eddie melted back into him and hummed softly. “Wanna listen to music? There’s a speaker over there, hook your phone up to it.”

So Richie walked over, plugged his phone into the speaker and found a playlist. It was a nice mix of James Taylor, John Denver and other similar quiet, guitar music he thought Eddie would probably enjoy. He walked back to where Eddie was very focused on preparing the chicken, and just watched. Eddie was looking between the food and the cookbook propped open in front of him with a furrowed brow. “Who even uses a real cookbook anymore?” Richie asked softly.

“Shut up. It’s useful.” Eddie retorted.

Eddie gave him a few tasks to keep him busy as he knew Richie wouldn’t be able to just stand still and watch for very long. The two worked in peaceful silence, occasionally humming along to the music as the light from outside dimmed to twilight. Once they got the food in the oven, they made their way back into the living room to wait. They settled into the couch, and Richie lifted an arm, inviting Eddie to lay his head down. He obliged, then reached for the remote. He flipped on whatever he’d been watching on TV before Richie had arrived, but turned the volume low so they could just chat.

They just talked for the whole hour the food was cooking, Eddie tracing lines up and down Richie’s chest with his fingers, Richie playing with Eddie’s hair absentmindedly. When the timer went off, Richie jumped up, knocking Eddie off his lap. He turned around after realizing he’d dumped Eddie on the couch, “Ah sorry I’m fucking starving.”

Eddie just sat up, laughing, “It’s fine so am I, let’s go eat.” Eddie grabbed plates and silverware as Richie got the food out of the oven. They made plates and headed to the small table off the side of the kitchen, sitting across from each other.

Their dinner was filled mostly with shy eye contact and Richie cracking jokes about how hot the food/Eddie was. Richie offered to do the dishes and Eddie let him, leaning back against the counter across from the sink, checking out Richie’s ass again; the jeans really did make it look great. 

After the kitchen was back up to Eddie’s standard of spotless, they went back into the living room to finish the movie they hadn’t been paying attention to. They settled back into their original position, Eddie with his head on Richie’s chest, their legs tangled beneath them. Eddie was cold so he pulled a blanket over the two of them, and Richie started rubbing soft circles into Eddie’s lower back where his arm had ended up around him. Without noticing, they both drifted off. 

* * *

Eddie woke up first the next morning to light streaming in from the windows and reached forward to the coffee table to retrieve his phone. It was 8:30 in the morning. “Jesus.” He muttered, rubbing his eyes to try and wake up.

He felt Richie stir beneath him, his movement had woken him up. He felt Richie retract the arm that had been around him to stretch, and he rolled onto his back to look up at Richie from his lap. He had to hold back a laugh at the sight of his hair–the curls were kinked on the one side he’d had against the couch cushion overnight. Richie opened his eyes, only to immediately close them. “Oh fuck. You don’t happen to have contact solution do you??” He asked frantically.

“Why would I?” Eddie asked sleepily. 

“I don’t know,” Richie whined, eyes still closed. “I’m just gonna have to throw these away, there’s no saving them.” He reached up to his eyes and pulled both contacts out, “Ow fuck.” He whispered. “Fucking dailies,” he murmured as if to himself. “They dry out so easily,” he told Eddie, finally opening his eyes.

“You good though?” Eddie asked as he sat up, slightly concerned now.

“Um yeah, but I can’t see shit. You’re gonna have to take me home so I can put new ones in so I can drive my car back home.” Richie said, embarrassed. “What time is it? Will you hand me my phone?”

“It’s around 8:30,” Eddie said as he handed Richie his phone. 

“Fuck! I told my mom I’d get Sarah before nine.” He grabbed his phone and unlocked it to see that his mom had texted him eight times and called him twice. “Shit shit shit she’s freaking out. Apparently, her and my dad have some church group or book club thing or something at nine so I need to get her like now. Can you take me home?” He said, tripping over the blanket they had been wrapped in as he stood up. “Ah fuck,” He whispered under his breath as he texted her back.

Eddie laughed at how close Richie was holding his phone to his eyes, just inches away, his head turned slightly to one side to favor what Eddie assumed to be Richie's slightly less shitty eye. “You were making fun of me last night for being too short to reach the top shelf of my cabinets?” He stood up, still laughing. Richie just turned and shot an annoyed look in his general direction. “Let’s go, old lady,” Eddie said, motioning towards the door. “Want me to just drive to get her from your house? Unless it’s on the way for you to come back by here for your car. But it would probably be faster anyway.”

“No, they live like three blocks away from us so that would actually be fucking great if you have time.”

"Yeah, I have literally no plans today, I'd be happy to."

Richie smiled, "Thank you so much, you're really saving my ass here." He reached up in attempt to flatten his hair a bit. “Let’s just grab the booster from my car and throw it in yours. Unless you want to drive my car.”

“No, it’s fine we can take mine.” Eddie found Richie’s shoes for him and they both walked out to Eddie’s car together, Richie following tentatively, trying not to trip again. “Aren’t we in a hurry here? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you move so  _slowly_.” Eddie said when he turned and realized Richie was about ten paces behind him, carefully placing his feet in front of each other on the brick walk up to Eddie's front door.

“Well yeah, but I can’t fucking see, so...” Richie retorted, eyes squinting at the ground. Eddie just reached a hand out to pull him across the yard.

Once in the car with Sarah’s booster seat in the back, Richie just told Eddie his address because, “There’s no fucking way I can give you directions right now, sorry.” The ride over to Richie’s was about ten minutes, and in that time Maggie texted Richie four more times, none of which were read as trying to make out his phone screen with his present eyesight in a moving car was making him violently nauseous.

When Eddie pulled into Richie’s driveway, he insisted that Eddie just stay in the car. “I’ve got it under control, Eds,” Richie said, eyes focusing past Eddie’s face. Eddie seriously doubted that Richie ‘had it under control’ but decided to just let him go.

Eddie watched out his window as Richie tried to unlock his front door, bent over so his face was inches from the lock. He just sighed and got out of the car, making his way over to help. “This is gonna take forever, just let me help!” 

Richie looked over, startled, and dropped his keys. “Oh fuck,” he whispered, going to bend down. He began feeling around on the ground for the keys about eight inches to the left of where they had actually fallen. Eddie just laughed and picked them up, sliding them in the lock easily and turning the handle. 

“Ah wait just so you know it’s a mess in here right now I’m sorry,” Richie said as they walked through the doorway.

“Really, it’s fine, Rich. You've got a six-year-old, I wasn't expecting Buckingham Palace, Where are your glasses?” 

“No no I got it, I always leave them in the same spot so I can find them.” He sighed, flipping the light switch right by the door and walking over to a hallway off the living room. Eddie heard a few soft thumps coming from what he guessed was Richie’s bedroom, but he returned a few moments later in his ridiculous, cute, ugly glasses. 

 **[8:44 am] Maggie:** RICHARD. Your father and I need to leave RIGHT NOW or else we are going to be late. Where are you??

“Oh my god I genuinely think my mother is going to have an aneurysm,” Richie sighed, fixing his glasses. “Fuck I hate wearing these, they make me feel ten again. We gotta go now though, or she’s gonna skin me alive.”

“Okay let’s roll out then, come on.” Eddie started back to the car and quickly pulled out, following Richie’s directions. 

“They’re cute by the way,” he said quietly after a few minutes in the car.

“What?”

“The glasses. They make you look cute,” Eddie said, even quieter than the last.

Eddie looked over just in time to see Richie’s eyebrows shoot up above the frames, into his hair–-which still looked awful. “Really?” He asked. Eddie had to force himself to rip his gaze away from Richie’s huge eyes to pay attention to the road.

“Really,” he said, louder. He reached over to extend a hand to Richie, who looked at him with the same dumb lovestruck expression before interlacing their fingers together. Richie couldn’t do anything but smile out the passenger side window at the houses they zoomed past before they got to his parents. 

* * *

The ride was pretty short, and when they arrived, Eddie just stayed in the car. He saw Sarah and Richie exit the house, followed by Maggie, who Eddie recognized from school. Richie and Maggie hesitated in the doorway as Sarah ran ahead to the car, so Eddie got out and helped her into her booster seat.

“Did you and daddy have breakfast together today?” She asked innocently while he helped her into the car.

He snorted before he could stop himself, “Yes, we did.” He chuckled as he clicked the seatbelt in. He closed the car door behind him softly and looked nervously back at Richie and his mother. He couldn’t hear what they were saying but Eddie could tell that Richie was getting whisper-yelled at. He just got back into the driver’s seat and waited. “So what did you do at your sleepover last night, Sarah?” He asked, turning around to face her.

“Well, first we watched Tangled, then Mags made me my favorite dinner, which is noodles with chicken, carrots, and a waffle!” 

“You like that? Sounds gross.” Eddie said, scrunching his nose for effect. 

Sarah cracked up. “It’s good! I promise! Maybe you can come over sometime and daddy can make it for you. He invented it.”

“That’s pretty special.” He said, and as he opened his mouth to speak again, the passenger door opened.

Richie slumped into the seat and slammed the door behind him. “Just drive. She’s mad at me,” he said quietly. 

Sarah, blissfully unaware of anything, piped up from the back, “Hi daddy! Mags didn’t feed me breakfast. Can we please get food I’m staaaarving,” she asked, dragging out the last syllable. 

Eddie watched as a smile broke out across Richie’s face immediately. He turned around to look at her, “Of course, sweetheart! The usual?”

“Yes! Oh, we’re matching today! I didn't notice!” She said, giggling.

Richie looked back at a confused Eddie, “We match when we both wear glasses,” he explained simply. “Want to get breakfast with us?”

“Sure.” Then he whispered urgently, “She thinks we’re together because we had breakfast together this morning though.”

Richie just laughed, “Time for second breakfast I guess! Remember that coffee shop we saw you at a million years ago? That’s ‘the usual.’”

They headed over to the coffee shop, where Sarah and Richie were greeted at the door by the same barista who was working last time Eddie had been there. After getting their drinks and food, they sat down. Eddie leaned over to Richie, “Was your mom just yelling at you for being late earlier? That looked intense…” 

“She’s an intense lady. But she’s mostly mad because she could tell what we were doing, she recognized you from school.”

“Oh fuuuck. Oh my god. Is she gonna tell anyone? I can’t lose this job. There are only three weeks of school left oh my god if we get busted this close-”

Richie just reached over and placed his hand on the back of Eddie’s neck, playing with his hair. “Shhh, relax. I think I convinced her to keep her mouth shut, it should be fine.”

“Oh my god, this was such a bad idea, I’m so stressed all the time.” He said, picking at his sandwich with a fork, "It's all I can think about."

“Worth it though, right?” Richie asked nervously.

Eddie looked back up into Richie’s huge brown eyes, “Worth it.”


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (This chapter was updated on 9/30/18)

The school carnival that year happened to fall on Sunday–-the day after Richie had accidentally woken up at Eddie’s. Sarah was obviously excited to go, but Richie knew she’d just run off and abandon him to hang out with her friends, so he called Stan up that morning to beg him to come along. 

“Dude I literally got in from Chicago at midnight last night, why are you calling me at fucking 7:30 in the morning. You’d better be dying or something.” Stan mumbled sleepily into the phone. 

“Not dying right now, Stanny, but I may if you don’t come with me to this school carnival thing later tonight." 

"Why do you want me to come? You’ve got Sarah." 

"Well yeah, but she’s a little more social than you were in grade school, she actually has friends. So she’s not gonna hang out with me,” Richie said with a short laugh. 

“Fuck you. But fine, I’ll go if you buy me dinner before, I don’t want to cook anything today." 

"Fair trade. I’ll pick you up at five and the three of us can get dinner somewhere.”

Stan hung up the phone without replying and promptly went back to sleep. 

* * *

Richie arrived at Stan’s at five with Sarah in the back, who insisted on getting out of the car to give Stan a hug. She raced over to him when he exited his house, and he picked her up in a tight hug. “Hey there, little bird! I haven’t seen you in ages!” He said, pushing a few stray curls out of her face. 

She giggled, “Uncle Stan, you saw me like, four days ago!" 

"Whatever. I’ve missed you,” he said, putting her back down and watching her run back over to the car. 

“I’ve missed you too, Stanny!” She sang out behind her as she reached Richie, who was ready to get her buckled back up. 

“You’ve got her calling me that now too? Why are you the way that you are.” Stan said, unamused, as he got in the passenger seat, right in front of Sarah's seat. 

Richie simply laughed back at him in response and began buckling Sarah into the booster seat. 

"Daddy, stop, I can do it myself," she whined.

Richie reached his hands up defensively, "Alright, princess. Just like to make sure you're safe," he prodded her nose with the tip of his index finger, coaxing a giggle out of her.

He closed the door behind her gently, using both hands, and made his way around the front of the car and got in the driver's seat.

“How’s Patty?" He asked Stan.

"Eh you know. Same old same old. I think I’m just going to break up with her,” Stan said, looking at his hands. 

“Yeah, I’ve been tellin’ you to do that for like a year dude! Finally!" 

"I mean I still love her. I still love her a lot. But there’s just… nothing there… I don’t know. And she wants kids so badly, I'm just not ready," he sighed, then his eyes widened. "Oh. I mean, well. It's not too early, I just--"

Richie chuckled, "Stanny, you know we both know I don't care. Right, Sarah?"

Sarah piped up from the back seat, "Daddy says if I have a kid when I'm as young as he was with me he's gonna kill me!" 

They both laughed in response. "That makes me feel better I guess. But anyway, yeah.I’m still thinking it over, but I'll keep you in the loop.” Stan said, deep in thought.

"I expect you to, my man. I like the drama." Richie smiled and just let Stan lose himself in thought as he focused on driving to the same little diner he and Eddie had had their date at a few weeks back. 

After they were seated, a waiter–-actually, the same waiter he’d had with Eddie--came to take their orders. “You sure do have a lot of boyfriends, Mr. Tozier,” the young girl said, obviously as a joke, but Stan just looked at Richie with his eyebrows raised until she left. 

He leaned forward and put his elbows on the table, “Are you cheating on me with another man?” He asked, feigning seriousness. 

Sarah called out, “You guys aren’t dating! He’s dating Eddie!” Realizing her mistake, she looked up at Richie, her mouth forming a little o. 

Richie put his head in his hands and murmured, “Oh and we were doing so well here, Sarah." 

"Sorry,” She whispered, cuddling up to his side. It was nearly impossible to stay angry with her, so he just put an arm around her, letting her rest her head on him. 

“So I’m assuming it’s the Eddie I think it is,” Stan said after a second. He whispered, “Her fucking  _teacher,_  Richie? Come on." 

"Well…. We aren’t technically dating….” He trailed off, knowing that wouldn’t get him anywhere. "There are only three weeks of school left starting tomorrow, it’ll be fine.“ 

"Who else knows?” Stan asked incredulously. 

“Well as of right now, my mom and you, Sarah, obviously, and I think that’s it. Unless any of Eddie’s friends know." 

"How did your mom find out?" 

Sarah chimed in on this one, looking up at Stan, her eyes bright, magnified behind her glasses. "Well, they got breakfast together yesterday before they picked me up from Mags’s house, and she yelled at daddy for wearing the same clothes he wore on Friday. I don’t really know why she would be mad about that though, less laundry.” She shrugged. 

They both cracked up at the last remark, but Stan shot a warning look at Richie, knowing well enough why she’d be mad about that. He decided to just let the subject drop for the evening, trusting Richie to be careful, even though he knew he probably shouldn’t. The rest of the dinner was fairly quiet, and after they were finished, they made their way over to the school. 

As they pulled into a parking spot, Richie turned around to look at Sarah. “Okay, I know you want to go play with your friends, just make sure I can see you, and don’t go somewhere else without telling me first. You know the drill. And I have your inhaler if you need it." 

Sarah just did fucking finger guns back at him and unbuckled her seatbelt. 

Stan rolled his eyes at Richie, "You teach her that one?" 

Richie put a hand on his chest, "So proud.” He pretended to wipe a tear away from one of his eyes and got out of the car to let Sarah out. He opened the door and ushered her out red-carpet style. They made their way inside, and Sarah was sure to not run off before she found Eddie’s station–the face painting station–and essentially deposited Richie and Stan ten feet from it. 

“Hiiiii Mr. K!” She yelled out as she ran past him, making her way to some of her friends who were waving to her from across the gym. 

Eddie turned around, and his face just turned to a soft smile when he saw Richie. “You stalking me?” He asked. 

Richie moved closer so they wouldn’t have to yell, “Eh. Stalking you would be boring as hell. I don’t have time for that." 

"Well I mean you’re not wrong. Who’s this?” Eddie asked, nodding his head towards Stan. 

Richie put on a deep announcer voice, “This here is Stan the Man. My best friend since we were ten years old. Stan, this is Eds. But you already knew that." 

Stan leaned forward to shake Eddie’s hand. "Ah, so he’s got a nickname for you too, huh?" 

Eddie shook his head and laughed in response, "He’s ridiculous. Oh, by the way, this is my friend Mike, he’s the art teacher here." 

Mike looked up at both of them and gave a small wave. "Hence the face painting station.” He said, gesturing to the table behind him filled with paints. 

Richie and Stan pulled up the extra chairs that were at the table and sat down, Richie making sure he could still keep an eye on Sarah from where he was seated. 

He leaned over to Eddie and whispered, “Wanna paint me like one of your French girls?" 

Eddie shook his head, scrunching his nose up, "You’re the fucking worst." 

Off to the side, Stan was watching with an annoyed look on his face. 

Mike picked up on it and leaned over to him. "I’m assuming you know about this, too,” he said quietly. 

“Yeah. They’re fucking… on thin ice here." 

Mike laughed warmly, "Literally." 

It took Stan a second to get the joke, but when he did he cracked up. "So you teach art here? That’s amazing, I am so shit at drawing." 

Mike smiled, "Yeah I love it. What is it that you do?" 

"I’m just an accountant, it’s pretty boring." 

"Yeah that sounds like it would be, I’d kill myself." 

"Well I haven’t wanted to yet, but I guess we’ll see.” Stan laughed again.

Mike leaned in closer again, “What do you say we exchange phone numbers. For emergencies. You know, in case anything happens with this shit.” He said, pointing at Richie and Eddie–Richie now had red paint all over one of his hands and was trying to get it in Eddie’s hair, who was resisting valiantly. 

“Jesus Christ, Richie is such an idiot. But yeah that’s probably a good idea,” Stan said, smiling up at Mike, handing over his phone with a new contact card open. 

* * *

A few days after the carnival, Mike approached Eddie in the teacher’s lounge while all the kids were at lunch. “So… Richie seems cool." 

Eddie looked around nervously before realizing they were the only ones in the room. "Yeah,” he said, rather dreamily. 

“And his friend. Stan. Stan seems cool.” Mike said, at which Eddie raised his eyebrows. He just shrugged in response, “See if they want to hang out and get some drinks this weekend or something.”

“Um, sure. Friday would probably be good, Richie doesn’t have Sarah on Fridays. Would that work for you?" 

"It would be perfect.”

* * *

Richie was super excited when Eddie texted him, and he texted Stan immediately to ask if he wanted to join. 

**[12:34 pm] Richie: Hey, remember Eddie and Mike from the other night? They wanted to see if we wanted to hang out on Friday. The four of us. To get drinks or something. Are you free?**

[12:39 pm] Stan: Uh, yeah actually. I had a date with Patty planned, but I decided to just end things last night. 

**[12:41 pm] Richie: Aw fuck yeah my guy!**

**[12:42 pm] Richie: Well shit sorry, wait. How do you feel? How’d she take it?**

[12:44 pm] Stan: She actually said she’d been thinking about how to break up with me for a while too, so it really wasn’t that bad. 

**[12:44 pm] Richie: Well, I’m proud of you. Finally, single Stan is back! We are gonna have so much fun. ;)**

[12:48 pm] Stan: Richie. It’s been literally twelve hours. At least let the body get cold. 

(Although Stan had plans to do no such thing).

* * *

That Friday night, the four of them met at a small local bar around 8:30 for a few beers and to watch whatever baseball game was on. They all ended up back at Eddie’s around 10:00, and just hung out there for a while, all talking and cracking jokes with each other. 

Around 11:30, Stan was the first to announce he was ready to call it a night, standing up and stretching. Mike followed suit quickly, not wanting to be left the third wheel. Eddie got up out of Richie’s lap to walk them to the front door and closed it behind him. He turned to face Richie with a grin, “Was it just me or were they  _flirting_?”

“Literally all night.” Richie laughed. He patted his thighs, wanting Eddie to return to his original position. “Come back, I’m cold.” 

Eddie sauntered back over to Richie and sat back down in his lap, facing him. They both looked into each other’s eyes for a long time, each getting lost in the others’. “Fuck it,” Richie whispered.

He grabbed the back of Eddie’s neck with both hands and threaded his fingers through his hair. He hesitated for a moment, then leaned forward to kiss him. Eddie’s lips came alive under his, and Richie was surprised when he felt Eddie’s tongue graze against his lips, begging for entrance. He obliged, more than willing, and they just sat like that for a while, Eddie straddling Richie, lazily kissing and exploring each other’s mouths. 

After god knows how long, Eddie pulled back, out of breath. “Fucking finally,” he said, before going back in for more. He pulled Richie on top of him so they were laying on the couch. 

Richie just looked at Eddie from above, admiring his soft hair that was fanned out against the couch, and lips that were swollen but turned up in a smile. “You are so beautiful.” He whispered, before attaching his lips to Eddie’s again, hungry for more. 

They just made out on Eddie’s couch for what seemed like hours, but neither wanted it to stop. It felt like high school again, they were literally just kissing, fully clothed, dry humping like they were sixteen. Once it got to be too much, Eddie pulled his lips off Richie’s, who whined from the loss of contact. “Want to stay over tonight? We could go upstairs…” Eddie whispered against Richie’s lips. 

“Yeah sure, my contacts though…” Richie didn’t need a repeat of last weekend. 

“Um actually, I was at the pharmacy the other day anyway... I just bought some contact solution and stuff. I figured it might be good to have on hand, just in general.” Eddie blushed as he spoke.

“Oh my god, you are so  _cute_!” Richie squealed and kissed him on the nose, “You’re too good to me, Eds.” He was still hovered over Eddie on the couch, just looking into his eyes.

“I just like to be prepared,” he said shortly, pouting.

“Well, shall we? I’m old, it’s past my bedtime,” Richie said.

Eddie grinned and slid out from underneath Richie and grabbed his hand, leading him upstairs to his room.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (This chapter was updated 9/30/18)

Eddie was the first to wake the next morning, same as the last time they had woken up together. They had fallen asleep facing each other after lying in bed talking for two hours after they’d gone upstairs. Eddie fondly thought back to Richie’s eyes falling closed every five seconds, fighting sleep so hard, eventually succumbing and just falling asleep mid-sentence.

That was the morning Eddie realized he was done for, watching Richie breathe softly in the warm morning light. It crept through the window, illuminating his curls from behind, casting weird shadows across the freckles that graced the bridge of his nose. Eddie wanted to do this every single day. Talking, kissing, laughing, falling asleep together, waking up together. All of it.

He reached a hand out to gently graze his fingertip across Richie’s freckles, wanting to memorize the way they fell across his face. Richie’s eyes fluttered open slowly, and Eddie watched as Richie took in his (what Eddie could only assume to be incredibly blurry) surroundings.

He yawned widely. “Good morning, beautiful," he whispered as his eyes fell on Eddie’s face. Eddie watched as he rolled over, grabbed his contacts from where they’d been resting on the side table, and plopped them back into his eyes. Richie laid his head back down on the pillow and reached a hand out to cup Eddie’s cheek. “I had a dream about your mom last night,” he said with a wink.

“Oh my god, I fucking hate you.” Eddie glared at him as he ripped the covers back and stood up, searching for a clean pair of jeans to put on.

Once they were both fully clothed again, they made their way downstairs and Eddie started making breakfast. “What time do you have to go get Sarah from your parents’?” He asked, cracking a few eggs into a pan on the stove. 

Richie looked at his watch. “I’ve got like an hour, although I should probably go home and change first. Last week my mom noticed I was in the same clothes as I had been wearing the day before, I think that’s how she figured this out,” he said, motioning at the space between them. 

“Oh, by the way, Sarah was wondering if you wanted to come over for dinner sometime this week? It’s her birthday.” Richie asked, leaning back against the counter, “I promise I won’t make the Richie Surprise,” he added with a grin.

“Only if you promise,” Eddie said, smiling back. “What day?”

“We’re eating with my parents on her actual birthday, which is Tuesday. Wanna do Wednesday?” Richie moved closer to Eddie, wanting to play with his hair.

Eddie leaned back against his chest, smiling, “That sounds great.”

Richie just stood behind Eddie, hands in his hair, and watched as he finished up making some scrambled eggs. Once the toast popped up out of the toaster, Eddie grabbed butter and they sat down at the table.

They ate their breakfast slowly, it was nice to have a lazy morning together after the last one had been so panicked. Richie ducked out a little later to go pick Sarah up, but not before leaving Eddie with a soft kiss. 

* * *

On Wednesday, Eddie showed up to Richie’s around 5:30. Richie opened the door for him, letting out the smell of food cooking in the kitchen. “Oh my god that smells so good, what is it?” Eddie asked as he walked through the door.

“Chili!” Richie said excitedly, “I promise I’m a good cook when I make normal things, Sarah and I just both like a lot of weird food combinations.” 

Eddie took his shoes off by the doorway and looked around the house–he hadn’t really looked last time he was there, they had been so rushed. It was a bit cluttered, but it was also warm and comfortable. All of the furniture looked like you could fall asleep on it instantly, and there were blankets strewn over the couch and chairs in the living room. There were also a bunch of toys and princess dresses scattered all over the floor, but it was nice. It was a home. Eddie’s eyes landed on a record player in the corner, sitting atop a shelf filled with more records than Eddie could count. One was turning under the needle, some classic rock that he didn’t recognize. 

“Where’s Sarah?” He asked after a few seconds. 

“Oh she’s in her room, she probably won’t want to come out until dinner is ready. She likes to be alone after school most of the time anyway, but my mom gave her a book of sudoku last night and she’s been doing it literally ever since we got home last night.”

Eddie chuckled softly, “Yeah, I noticed she was working on something today.”

Richie raised his eyebrows, “I told her to leave it at home! Sorry.”

“It’s not a big deal. So do you need help with anything for dinner?” 

“Um yeah, the chili should be done in like thirty, I was just about to make the cornbread,” Richie said, leading the way into the kitchen. It was just as cluttered as the living room, but for some reason, Eddie didn’t mind.

They began working on making the cornbread together, but since it was just a box mix, it was really just a one person job. Richie just let Eddie take over as he was being bossy anyway, and just assumed his natural position for when they were in the kitchen together. He watched Eddie stir the mix from above, arms wrapped around his waist, tracing soft circles on his stomach over his shirt.

“I’ve missed you.” Richie said softly, “I’ve missed this.” He placed a kiss on Eddie’s ear, then his jaw, then his cheek. 

Eddie turned his head towards Richie’s face, speaking softly into his neck, “We see each other pretty much every day, Rich. Also, shouldn’t we… not do this? What if Sarah comes out?”

“She won’t. She’s really invested in her puzzles back there, she didn’t even hear you come in or she probably would have come out here. I just wanted you to myself for a little bit,” he said, nibbling at Eddie’s earlobe.

Giving in, Eddie dropped the spoon he’d been using to stir the cornbread back into the bowl and turned around to reach up and grab Richie’s neck. He allowed himself to melt into Richie’s body and stood on his toes to kiss him.

Richie reciprocated enthusiastically, his tongue licking into Eddie’s mouth within a few seconds. It was a rushed kiss, needy; they hadn’t been able to do anything since Friday–only seeing each other at after school pickup. They’d both been wanting–-needing more since. 

Richie hooked his hands under Eddie’s thighs, lifting him up to place him on the counter. Richie died as Eddie almost growled at this, looking up into his dark eyes for a second before putting his lips on Eddie’s neck. Eddie leaned his head back to give him more room and wrapped his legs around Richie’s waist, raking his hands over his shoulders and down his back.

Just then, the oven preheat timer went off. “Fuck,” Eddie said, voice deep. “We should start the bread or else it won’t be ready with the chili.”

“Mmmm. What if we just don’t have bread….” Richie whispered into Eddie’s collarbone, hands traveling under his shirt to grab at the warm skin of Eddie’s lower back.

“We already made the mix!” Eddie said, unhooking his ankles. “Let’s just put it in it’ll take thirty seconds.”

“That’s what sh–”

“I swear to CHRIST, Richie.” Eddie cut him off, hopping down from the counter to finish mixing the bread and pour it into a pyrex dish. As Eddie was sliding the dish into the oven, a small voice piped up from the hallway off of the living room. 

“I’m hungry! When’s dinner gonna be reeeaaady?” Sarah whined, coming out from behind the corner. Her eyes lit up when she saw Eddie, and she ran over to hug his legs. She looked up at Richie who was still standing close behind, “Why didn’t you tell me our guest of honor got here?!” She asked, making a funny face and using a British accent as she said the words ‘guest of honor.’

“You told me to ‘shut up and let you do your puzzle’ last time I came in your room!” Richie said, pointing at her accusingly. 

She just stuck her tongue out and let go of Eddie’s legs. “Want to see all the new toys I got for my birthday yesterday?” She asked Eddie, rocking back and forth on her feet. 

“Sure!” Eddie replied and followed her as she skipped back to her room, leaving Richie behind to set the timer for the bread. She pushed through the door, and Eddie was met with an overwhelming amount of pink. All the walls were pink, the small bed in the corner was covered with a pink blanket, there was a pink canopy hung above the bed, and a huge pink doll house made to look like a castle that sat on the floor in the corner. She had a bookshelf against the wall opposite her bed that contained almost as many books as Eddie had in his room. Eddie chuckled softly as he noticed not one, but two inhalers sitting on the small bedside table–he’d also seen one in both the living room and the kitchen–Richie must be ridiculously paranoid. 

Sarah sat down at a small table in the center of the room that was covered with papers she’d colored; some were from coloring books, others were just pieces of printer paper with random drawings and scribbles all over them. She showed him all the new art supplies Richie had gotten her, and the new toys from her grandparents. 

Eddie knelt down to look at all the drawings that she’d made with her new colored pencils. He couldn’t help but smile at how excited she was, talking a mile a minute and explaining a made-up, but incredibly detailed backstory for each drawing. 

* * *

After they finished dinner, Eddie announced he needed to run to his car to grab something he’d forgotten and snuck out of the house quickly. Sarah and Richie finished up the dishes, Richie cleaning them in the sink and handing them to Sarah so she could fill the dishwasher.

He came back in with a box wrapped in Christmas wrapping paper. Sarah saw the paper and giggled. Eddie also laughed in spite of himself. “Sorry, I don’t have much wrapping paper.”

Richie turned around, noticing the gift. “Oh my god, you didn’t have to get her a present! We just wanted to hang out with you!” He said, reaching down to put his hands on Sarah’s shoulders and rub them. “What do you say, princess?”

“Thank you!” She said, blinking with eyes wide behind her thick glasses. Eddie held the box out and she walked over to grab it. She plopped down on the floor in the middle of the kitchen and ripped open the wrapping paper, throwing it behind her dramatically.

“Always the spectacle.” Richie laughed softly as he walked over to pick up her mess. 

She opened the box to find a pair of little pink hi top chucks. Her eyes lit up and she looked up Eddie from her seat on the floor, “They’re perfect! Thank you so much! I love you, Eddie!!” She stood up quickly and bounded over to him with outstretched arms, where he scooped her up in a hug.

Richie walked over quietly, placing a hand on the small of Eddie’s back and leaving a soft kiss on his cheek. He leaned to whisper in Eddie’s ear, “That makes two of us.” He just winked as Eddie gave him a dumbstruck expression, overwhelmed. 

He patted Sarah on the shoulder a few times until she lifted her head up from where it had been resting against Eddie’s other shoulder, her glasses askew. He laughed and fixed them before saying, “Alright munchkin. Time for bed.”

“Stories first?” She asked, fixing her glasses again, apparently unpleased with how Richie had done it.

“Of course stories first. Go brush your teeth,” Richie said as Eddie put her back down. 

Richie left to meet Sarah in her room after she’d brushed her teeth and put pajamas on, only to return to the living room after a few seconds. “She wants us both to read a story,” he explained, eyes pleading.

Eddie followed Richie happily into Sarah’s room, where they sat together on the side of the bed, each reading her a story from one of the thousand books in her room. Eddie felt his heart grow as he watched Richie give Sarah a hug goodnight, removing her glasses and placing them on the nightstand carefully. 

“Can I wear my new shoes to school tomorrow?”

“Of course. But you know you still can’t tell anyone about this? So just… don’t say anything about Eddie buying them? I’m sorry you got caught up in this, sweetie.” He spoke softly, a voice Eddie rarely heard.

“I’m not dumb, daddy. It’ll be fine,” she said, rolling her eyes.

Richie just chuckled, placing a kiss on her forehead and flipping the switch on her lamp. “Love you, princess.”

“Love you too, loser.” 

He stood up and followed Eddie out of the room, lingering by the door for a second before he closed it. 

“Alright, well I’d better go home,” Eddie whispered after Richie turned around. “It is a school night, after all.”

“Yeah, that’s fair.” Richie nodded, and they made their way back to the living room. Richie watched as Eddie put his shoes back on, lacing them back up meticulously. “Thanks again for getting her a gift, you really didn’t have to do that.”

“I wanted to. I probably shouldn’t have, but there’s like ten days left until summer, so…” Eddie just shrugged, looking back up at Richie.

Richie just pulled him in a tight embrace, “I did mean what I said earlier. I don’t know when it happened, but I love you. I’m like head over heels in dumb, high school love with you, Eddie.” He pulled back just enough to meet Eddie’s warm brown eyes, which were glassy as he looked up.

Eddie whispered, almost inaudible if not for their proximity, “I love you too, Rich. A lot. So much it scares me. I’ve never felt this way before.” 

Richie just pulled him in tighter, wrapping a hand around his head to pull it into his chest, carding his fingers through Eddie’s soft hair. 

They just stood like that for a while, until the music from the record player ended; it had played the whole thing. They reluctantly broke apart and Richie walked Eddie to the door, watching him walk out to his car and wave before heading out into the night. That was it for Richie–-the night he realized he was fucked as he watched Eddie drive away, knowing that he never wanted Eddie to leave again.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (This chapter was updated 9/30/18)

The next morning, Sarah woke Richie up by running into his room and jumping on the bed; bouncing once before landing on his chest. She propped her face up on her hand and reached the other out to poke his nose, “Wake up I’m bored! It’s time for school!!” 

Richie groaned and reluctantly opened his eyes, rubbing at his face to wake up. “What time is it?” 

“6:20!” She said, reading the clock on his bedside table. “We gotta hurry if you want coffee!”

“Alright alright, you’re gonna have to get off of me if you want any progress to be made here,” he chuckled, ruffling her curls. She just rolled over his body which was near the edge of the bed, hopping off and landing on the carpet with a soft thud. She ran into her room to get dressed, leaving Richie still in bed. 

After he took a fast shower and they were both dressed, he loaded Sarah into the back seat before heading over to the coffee shop they went to every morning. 

While they were ordering their drinks, Sarah asked their usual barista if she liked the new pink chucks she’d gotten from Eddie the night before. “I got them for my birthday! They’re my favorite color! They match my glasses. And they match my outfit.” She stated matter-of-factly. Richie laughed at this, she was just in a rainbow striped dress–-it would match anything.

They walked over to a little table in the corner, Richie carrying their drinks and Sarah carrying her sudoku book. They sat down and she immediately opened it, leaning over so her face was just a few inches away from the pages, tongue sticking out of the corner of her mouth as she focused. 

Richie put a finger under her forehead and pushed her head up to be further away from the book. “Stop it, you’re gonna make your eyes  _worse.”_ She looked up to roll her eyes at him and resumed her work intently. They finished up their drinks as well as a muffin Richie had gotten for them to split, and headed to school. 

* * *

During recess, Eddie was standing close to the school, eyes scanning around the playground watching his class. He noticed Sarah running towards him from the basketball court. 

“Ed-” Her eyes shot wide but she cut herself off, “Mr. K!” She yelled out as she ran over to him, face streaked with tears. She took her glasses off and held them out to him, whimpering. She took a deep breath and started speaking through heaving sobs, “We were playing… over there… and my glasses got knocked off… and Hunter… he stepped on them! …It was an accident!” She wailed. 

Eddie took them out of her hands. The right lens was cracked and the hinge on the same side was also broken, the earpiece barely hanging on. He knelt down to brush some curls out of her eyes. “Hey, it’ll be alright. Let me call your dad, okay?” He stood back up and pulled her in close to his legs, keeping a hand on her shoulder. He retrieved his phone from his back pocket and dialed Richie, Sarah’s broken glasses still sitting tenderly in his other hand. 

Once Richie answered, it didn’t take long for Eddie to explain what had happened. “Ah shit,” Richie said through the phone. “Okay. I thiiink we still have her old ones. I’ll run home and be there as soon as I can. She okay?”

“You want to just talk to her?” Eddie asked. Sarah overheard and looked up at him, nodding vigorously through her tears.

“Sure.” 

Eddie handed the phone down to Sarah, who grabbed it with both hands before putting it up to her ear. Eddie listened to her half of the conversation.

“Hi, daddy…"

"Yeah. I’m okay. It was an accident…" 

"I know I know…"

"Okay, well hurry. I can’t see shit.” 

Eddie laughed at that before clapping a hand over his mouth, he could hear Richie cracking up through the phone. She just hung up and handed Eddie his phone back. “You spend too much time with your dad, Sarah,” he said as he took it.

The class made their way back in from recess, Sarah towards the end of the line, holding her glasses in her hand. Richie arrived at the school right as they were walking inside. He pulled her out of the line so they could talk for a second, kneeling down to be on her level.

She handed him her glasses with renewed sobs. He pulled the old pair out of his pocket and handed them to her, which provoked her to cry even harder. “What’s wrong, princess?” He asked, brushing some hair behind her ear.

“They’re not pink!” She cried out. “I like my new ones!” 

Richie laughed, wiping tears from her eyes. “Hey bug, you’ve still got your pink shoes though, right?” She nodded slowly, putting the old glasses on. “That’s my girl,” he said with a smile and pulled her in to plant a gentle kiss on her forehead. “I’ll tell you what, I’ll wear my glasses too until yours are fixed. How does that sound?”

This coaxed a smile out of her. “We can match?”

He nodded, “Anything for you, bug.” He stood up and shoved the broken glasses into the pocket of his jeans, looking around until he found Eddie. He was holding the classroom door open, ushering the kids in. Richie led Sarah to the door and watched as she found her seat.

“Thanks for calling me.” He said, leaning close to Eddie while the last few stragglers made their way through the door. Richie lowered his voice, “I gotta get back to work, but wanna come over for dinner tonight? Thursday is pizza night.” 

Eddie looked over and nodded, shooing Richie away. “I’ll text you.”

Richie winked, waved goodbye to Sarah, and turned on his heel to leave. As he was walking toward the front door, he passed Bill Denbrough, the principal, who was just leaving his office. They’d been friends when they were kids, but they hadn’t talked in years. Richie offered a short wave and a smile.

“Mr. Tozier,” Bill said, nodding politely back at him. “It’s been a while. You sure have been in a lot this semester.”

“My child is a walking disaster,” Richie said, laughing and shaking his head. 

Bill laughed warmly, “I would expect no less of any child of yours, Trashmouth.” Bill said with a wink, continuing to walk to wherever it was he was going. “Nice to see you, Rich.” He called behind him with a wave goodbye. 

Richie dropped Sarah’s glasses by the optometrist on the way back to work, who informed him they’d be fixed by Monday or Tuesday. 

* * *

Eddie texted Richie later to get details about pizza night, and per his instructions, he showed up at their house around 6. 

“Perfect timing!” Richie bellowed in one of his voices as he opened the door for Eddie. “The pizza just arrived!” 

Richie was, as promised, wearing his thick glasses to match Sarah. “Ugh, you look so cute in those,” Eddie said, knowing he wouldn’t be able to hide his blush. 

Richie bowed. “Why thank you, my good sir,” he said, British now.

“Shut up,” Eddie said as he pushed past Richie, moving towards the smell of pizza wafting from the kitchen. “What kind did you get?” Eddie yelled over his shoulder at Richie who was still standing by the door.

He moved quickly to follow Eddie into the kitchen. “Um, one with pineapple for me and Sarah and one with cheese for you?” He turned his head around to yell, “Sarah! Pizza and Eddie are here!” 

“Ew, you guys are so gross,” Eddie remarked, shaking his head as they heard Sarah’s door open and her little footsteps pitter-patter their way in from the living room.

“Yum, I’m hungry!” She exclaimed before reaching up to the counter to pull three pieces onto her plate. 

“Woah woah slow down, just have one for now. If you finish it you can have more.” Richie said, pulling two of the slices off her plate. 

“Fine,” Sarah said, grabbing the plate off the counter and holding it carefully with both hands as she carried it to the living room. “You bringin’ mah juice?” She yelled in a southern accent from the other room. 

“Why yes, ma’am I am!” Richie yelled back in the same accent. 

Eddie just shook his head, laughing as he filled his plate and grabbed a glass of water. Once they both had plates, they carried their food and drinks into the living room. Sarah had claimed the middle of the couch and patted the seats on either side of her when they entered the room, a wide smile on her face. They sat down, Richie turning to Sarah to give her her juice before clapping his hands together softly. 

“Okay, what movie for tonight?”

“FrozenFrozenFrozenFrozen,” she chanted. 

Richie chuckled and messed up her hair before standing up and sticking the DVD into the player and turning the TV on.

The three of them watched the movie in silence. Although Eddie and Richie didn’t pay much attention, mostly giving each other looks above Sarah’s head as she watched with huge, bright eyes glued to the screen. 

By the end of the movie, they each had an arm resting on the back of the sofa above her head, fingers loosely tangled. Richie traced slow circles into the back of Eddie’s hand with his thumb. When the credits rolled, they both looked down at Sarah, who was fast asleep with her head against Eddie’s side. Richie just scooped her up, careful not to wake her, and carried her into her room. 

He returned a few moments later to Eddie taking their plates into the kitchen and beginning to clean up from dinner. Richie put the leftover pizza in the fridge and grabbed the dishes from Eddie when they were rinsed off so he could fill the dishwasher. As Eddie handed him the last plate, Richie said, “Hey you haven’t seen my room yet… Wanna see where the magic happens?” He asked with a wink. 

“How did you know that’s my lifelong dream!?” Eddie said sarcastically as he watched Richie close the dishwasher. Richie just grabbed his hand and led him back through the living room, down the same little hallway where Sarah’s room was. He turned left at her door, following where the hallway turned and leading him to another door at the end. 

Richie opened the door, motioning for Eddie to go first. The room was small, but it was inviting. He had some clothes piled on the floor, but not enough to be considered dirty. The bed in the far right corner of the room looked incredibly plush, with a thick navy blue blanket covering it. The nightstand was slightly cluttered with a lamp, small alarm clock, and a few books, Richie's glasses sitting lens down on top of the stack. Against the left wall was a desk with a huge iMac that had a soundboard plugged in next to the keyboard. The rest of its surface was covered with random flash drives and stacks of CDs. Sat next to the desk was a long piano keyboard, the same size as a full piano. 

He looked up at Richie, “Can you play for me again?” Richie nodded and moved to sit in the desk chair, rolling it over to be in front of the piano. Eddie laid down on the end of Richie’s bed, crossing his arms in front of him and resting his chin on them. 

He listened as Richie dove right into a song he had never heard before. He marveled at how seamlessly Richie could melt one song into another, switching between a few songs from movie scores that Eddie recognized–including one from Frozen. He always went back in between each to the same song Eddie could swear he had never heard. But it felt so familiar, almost like he’d heard it in a dream. It took a while for him to realize it was the same one Richie had played that first time, right after Eddie had rested his head on Richie’s shoulder. It was making him tired again, and before long, he was fighting to keep his eyes open laying in Richie’s soft, warm bed. 

Richie trailed the song off, turning around to find a sleepy Eddie lying in his bed. He got up and walked gingerly over to the bed, lying down next to Eddie on his back. “C’mere.” 

Eddie pushed himself up to lay on his side with his head resting in the dip of Richie’s shoulder. He put a hand in front of his face and began tracing the lines printed on the fabric of Richie’s soft t-shirt. Richie put a hand around Eddie, snaking it back up to play in his hair. They lay like that and talked before Eddie moved his head up to playfully nip at Richie’s neck.

Richie immediately stopped talking and let out a tiny gasp. He turned his face down to Eddie, looking into his eyes. Using the hand already in his hair, he pulled Eddie’s head up and kissed him hard. Eddie’s left arm was pinned tightly between them, so he rolled over to be on top of Richie so it wouldn’t fall asleep. Richie moaned, and Eddie took advantage of his open mouth to deepen their kiss. This pulled another sound from Richie, and Eddie couldn’t help but grind his hips into Richie’s. 

He pulled Richie up by his shirt so they were sitting up and Richie spread his legs so Eddie could settle in between them. Richie moved his lips to Eddie’s neck, sucking marks along it. Richie could die happy then, listening to the sounds he was pulling from the other man. Eddie reached a hand up from Richie’s waist to tangle a hand in his hair. Richie moaned at this, so Eddie pulled hard, earning the loudest whine so far.

They continued like this for a while, a mess of whimpers and heavy breathing, until they heard Eddie’s phone ring. Richie groaned when Eddie broke their kiss to pull his phone out of his pocket. Eddie leaned back, but had to pause to laugh–Richie’s glasses were fogged up and crooked. Richie cocked his head to the side, confused, before realizing what Eddie was laughing at. He removed his glasses to wipe them clean as Eddie brought his phone up to his face. 

“It’s Mike. He never calls this late, I should probably-”

Richie just waved at him to take the call, replacing his glasses on his face.

“Hey, dude. Do you have a sec to talk? I need advice I’m freakin’ out.” Mike said through the phone.

“Um, yeah. Can I call you back in like twenty? I’m kind of in the middle of something right now.” Eddie said, trying to cover his breathlessness.

Richie winked at that, as Eddie was  _literally_ in the middle of his thighs. Eddie just rolled his eyes and hung up the phone after Mike said that twenty minutes would be fine. 

“Well, I guess that’s probably my cue to leave. I feel like it would be inappropriate to show up to school tomorrow in the same clothes I wore today.” They both chuckled, and Eddie moved to untangle his body from Richie’s.

Richie watched him stand up and followed, the two of them walking out to the living room together. 

“I like it when you come over,” Richie said quietly as Eddie was putting his shoes on. “I’m excited for the school year to end.”

Eddie looked up from his seat on the couch. “Me too, Rich. Maybe we can actually do this more often,” he said, standing up. 

“I’d like that very much,” Richie said with a wink as he led Eddie over to the front door. “Bye spaghetti, love you.” He said and reached a hand out to pinch Eddie’s waist, causing him to squeal and flinch away. 

“Bye Rich, hate you,” Eddie said, standing on his toes to place a quick kiss on Richie’s lips. “See you tomorrow after school.”


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (This chapter was updated 9/30/18)

Eddie waited until he got home to call Mike back, who was still just as flustered as when he had called the first time.

“Okay so it’s about Stan. Richie’s friend,” Mike said immediately after he answered, voice thick with anxiety.

“I know who Stan is, Mike. He was at my house the other day. I seem to remember you being there as well,” Eddie replied sarcastically. 

“Um yeah. So anyway, we kinda started flirting that night, I don’t know if you could tell… And we’ve been texting a lot since then.” Eddie could almost hear his blush through the phone.

“Michael, a blind deaf dog would have been able to tell. Soo, why are you calling?”

“He just asked me to get dinner with him tomorrow. With some of his friends. I’m freaking out I don’t know what to say.”

“You like him right?”

“Yeah.”

“So say yes, idiot.”

Mike just mumbled unintelligibly back into the phone.

“Go to bed and sleep on it then. It’s late anyway, we both have to be at school in like seven hours.”

“Yeah, I know… Okay, thanks, Eddie.”

“Any time,” Eddie said before he hung up the phone. 

He walked up the stairs and went into the bathroom, following his meticulous routine to get ready for bed. Once in bed, he pulled a book from his nightstand to read but fell asleep within five minutes. 

* * *

The next day at after school pickup, Richie got there early.

He walked over to meet the class, Sarah standing close by Eddie’s legs as usual. When she saw Richie, she ran over to him for a hug. He picked her up and messed up her hair, saying something Eddie couldn’t hear as he made his way over. 

She started squirming in his arms so he set her on the ground, then stood back up and looked down at Eddie. “Oh hey I realized I totally forgot to ask you last night, but I’m having some friends over tonight, wanna come hang out? The ones who live in Bangor, Bev and Ben? I think I’ve told you about them before. Anyway. They’re in town, I’d love for you to meet them.”

“Sure. We always hang out on Fridays.”

“Stan actually asked me this morning if he could bring Mike, so I guess that’s a thing now,” Richie said with a suggestive smile.

“Oh, so that’s what he called me about last night. He didn’t mention you, but he said Stan had asked him to a dinner with some of his friends.”

“Should be fun!” Richie winked then switched to a British accent as he grabbed Sarah’s hand, “We’d best be going! Gotta drop the little one off and get my humble abode ready to entertain!” 

Eddie just shook his head, laughing softly. “Bye guys. Richie, just text me whenever you want me over.”

* * *

Richie ended up texting Eddie after he’d dropped Sarah off around 5:00.

[5:10 pm] Richie: Hey I just got back from dropping Sarah off. You can honestly come whenever, I’m just hanging out. People are getting here around 7

**[5:14 pm]: Eddie: Ok! I just got back from a run, I’ll take a shower and be over in a little.**

[5:16 pm] Richie: You could shower here if you want ;)

[5:25 pm] Richie: Ugh you’re no fun. See you soon

**[5:34 pm] Eddie: Too little too late, Tozier. I just saw those. Leaving my house now**

Eddie pulled up outside Richie’s house, parking his car next to Richie’s in the driveway. He lingered in the car, not sure why he was nervous to meet Richie’s other friends. He took a deep breath and got out of the car, walking up to Richie’s door.

After Richie closed the door behind him, Eddie reached a hand up to his face. “You’re wearing your glasses again. You look nice, Rich.” 

“I’m just trying to woo you, Eds.” Richie smiled at him as he nervously adjusted them on his face.

The rest of Richie’s friends began to arrive about a half hour later. 

They ate dinner on their laps in Richie’s living room, his kitchen too small to fit six fully grown adults comfortably. The better part of the dinner was spent with Richie, Stan, Bev, and Ben reminiscing and telling stories about the ridiculous things they did as kids. Eddie and Mike, although not having been present for any of it, found the stories hilarious. Towards the end, the four of them moved on to catching Ben and Beverly up on what had been happening in Derry since the last time they’d been in town, which had been almost two months before. 

After the six of them had finished eating, they brought their plates into the kitchen and decided to have a few beers. Ben and Bev had brought a bunch from a big brewery in Bangor.

About three beers later, Ben announced that he was tired and that he and Bev were going to head back to their hotel. “We drove straight from our apartment to your house, so it would be nice to get settled in our hotel before midnight.” Ben laughed warmly, standing up and bringing his empty beer bottle to the trashcan. 

Out of the corner of his eye, Richie noticed Mike, who he was seated next to, lean over to Stan. He just barely heard Mike whisper into his ear, “Hey are we still-” Stan just reached a hand out and placed it on Mike’s thigh, turning his head to nod at him, smiling.

He stood up with Ben, taking his and Mike’s empties into the kitchen as well. “I think Mike and I are probably going to head out too, I have to go to Chicago again tomorrow so I have to get up early.” 

This time it was Eddie who caught the knowing smile Mike shot at Stan from his seat on the couch. 

The six of them made their way over to the door, and Richie and Eddie watched from the doorway as two cars pulled out of his driveway and disappeared into the darkness. 

“Wanna help me with the kitchen?” Richie asked hopefully after shutting the door behind their friends. 

“Sure!” Eddie replied cheerily, heading into the kitchen and beginning to clean the plates in the sink. After Richie got back into the kitchen with the remaining empty beer bottles and random glasses and silverware from the other room, he joined Eddie by the sink. Eddie looked up at him, “So, why do your friends call you Trashmouth?”

Richie moved to take Eddie’s place at the sink. He wasn’t getting the dishes very clean, simply rinsing them under the water but not scrubbing at them; unusual for Eddie. Eddie let himself be nudged out of the way by Richie’s hip, placing the dishes in the dishwasher when prompted. 

“Um.. one of them started it when we were kids. I don’t remember who. But it just kinda stuck.” He shrugged. They finished the dishes and Eddie shut the dishwasher behind him, turning around to face Richie as he stood back up.

“Do you mind if I stay over tonight?” Eddie asked shyly, looking up at him through heavy-lidded eyes.

“Yes that’s fine I thought that was the plan the whole–oh my god wait, are you  _drunk_?”

Eddie knew he was already blushed from the alcohol, but he could feel it deepen, hyperaware. “Nooo.”

“Oh my god! You’re drunk!” Richie erupted into a fit of laughter, pulling Eddie in close. 

Eddie just sunk into his chest, listening to Richie’s heartbeat and letting his head rise and fall along with Richie’s chest while he laughed. 

“Okay, I had like one more beer than I should have. Whatever,” he said into Richie’s chest.

“You had like three beers, Eddie! Oh my god, you’re such a lightweight that's so fucking cute.”

Eddie punched his chest. “Fuck you. Let’s go to bed.”

“Mmm okay, I’m fine with that.” Richie said, looking down at Eddie to raise his eyebrows before unexpectedly scooping him up bridal-style. 

“RICHARD! Fucking PUT ME DOWN!” 

Richie just put a finger over Eddie’s lips. “Shhh. I  _told_  you earlier. I’m trying to woo you.”

Eddie glared up at a smug-faced Richie as he carried him down the hall to his bedroom. “Fucking jackass,” he muttered as he crossed his arms over his chest.

Once in his room, Richie walked over to the bed and gently set Eddie in it. He kissed him on the forehead before he turned to leave the room. “Be right back I’m gonna get ready for bed and shit. Give me five minutes,” he called behind him. 

Eddie just slipped out of his khakis and folded them, leaving them on the floor by the bed. He rolled over to the side closer to the wall and nestled himself in Richie’s blanket.

Keeping his promise, about five minutes later, Richie walked back into the room in just boxers and his t-shirt, climbing into bed and sitting criss-cross next to Eddie. 

Eddie, confident from the alcohol, just pounced on him. He climbed into Richie’s lap and wrapped his legs behind his back, reaching his arms over Richie’s shoulders before diving into a kiss that tasted slightly like toothpaste. 

Richie pulled back after a few seconds to laugh against Eddie’s lips, “Someone’s a bit eager. Whiskey got you feelin' frisky?” He said with a wink.

“Shut the fuck up we both know I just had beer,” Eddie said, although they both  _also_ knew that his face was still flushed from said beer. 

“Mhhmmm…” Richie hummed as he leaned back in to continue the kiss. After a few minutes, he reached over Eddie’s shoulders, pulling at the back of his shirt. Eddie realized quickly what he wanted and broke the kiss to pull his shirt over his head. While they were apart, they both sat there looking at each other. Eddie, with his deep blush–-both from the alcohol and the kiss–-and Richie, eyes dark with lust, huge behind the lenses of his glasses. Richie ripped off his own shirt, and also pulled his glasses off and threw them on the bedside table, flipping off the light while he was at it.

Richie dove back in, rolling on top of Eddie, both of their legs entangling underneath the covers while Eddie moved to Richie’s freckled collarbone, beginning to suck dark marks along it. 

After a while, Richie noticed Eddie’s breathing had become slightly ragged. He pulled his lips off Eddie’s, propping himself up on his hands instead of elbows. “You okay?”

Eddie nodded before realizing it was dark, and Richie couldn’t see well anyway. He just hummed out, “Mhmm” before smashing their lips back together.

After a few more minutes though, Eddie couldn’t ignore how tight his chest was, not able to get a deep breath even when he tried. Richie noticed him struggling, so he turned the light back on, grabbing his glasses and shoving them back on his face. 

Eddie was wheezing audibly at this point, and Richie recognized the sound. “Oh fuck. Oh my god. You’re not okay! Um, I have a bunch of Sarah’s inhalers here, I don’t know if they’re the same as–”

Eddie just put a finger up to interrupt him. “…In my… pants pocket… the front,” he managed to get out between labored breaths. 

Richie leaned over the side of the bed and retrieved the inhaler he found in Eddie’s pocket, handing it to him, terrified. He sat with his knees pulled up in front of him and watched as Eddie clicked the Ventolin into his lungs twice, and finally calmed down once he heard Eddie’s breathing begin to slow. 

“Ohmygodohmygod. Eddie, I’m so sorry this is all my fault. Were you hot? That always gives Sarah asthma attacks. It’s hot in here. Let me turn the thermostat down hang on.” Richie moved to stand up.

Eddie just laughed, still a little short of breath, but otherwise pretty much okay. “It’s not your fault. Sometimes drinking makes my asthma worse. It doesn’t always happen, so I don’t really know why. But sorry if I scared you.” He reached a hand out to run his fingers through Richie’s messy hair, stopping him from standing up.

Richie looked up at him from where he’d been hiding his face from behind his knees, “Now I gotta worry about Sarah dying from this shit and also you? Fuck that.” 

“I’m not going to die from it. I’m far too stubborn,” Eddie said, turning his inhaler over in his hands distractedly. “Sorry to ruin the mood though…” He added, still looking down. 

“Guess I just took your breath away.”

"Oh, that was terrible. Come on," Eddie said, but he was grinning down at his lap. 

Richie winked. “But really, I’m glad you’re okay. Want to just go to sleep?” He reached out, holding Eddie’s face in both hands, counting the freckles across his cheeks.

Eddie finally looked back up at Richie and nodded. Richie leaned forward to place a kiss on his forehead and held a hand out for Eddie’s inhaler. He handed it back to Richie, who placed it on the bedside table carefully along with his glasses. He turned the light off and laid back down, pulling Eddie close. He wrapped a hand over Eddie’s waist and Eddie reached for it, interlacing their fingers. They both fell asleep almost immediately.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (This chapter was updated 9/30/18)

On the morning before the last day of school, Richie looked down at Sarah while they sat across from each other at the coffee shop. “Hey bug, you excited for today?” 

This pulled her attention from the sudoku book she had almost finished in the last ten days. She looked up at him and nodded excitedly. “Are you?” 

“It’s  _your_  last day why would I be excited?” Richie asked, chuckling.

She dropped her voice to a whisper, “No more secrets!” 

Richie nodded. “Well yeah, I guess I am then.” He smiled down at her and watched her return to her sudoku, reaching absentmindedly for her milk and taking a sip through the straw, not looking up from her book.

He dropped her off at 6:45 and headed to work, knowing the next time he saw her Eddie wouldn’t be her teacher anymore. 

* * *

He dipped out of work early that afternoon, getting to the school in time so he could get a good spot in the carpool line. He watched as teachers filed out the front door with their students, waiting until he saw Eddie and his class to get out of the car. Once he saw them leave the building, he got out of the car and made his way over to them. 

Sarah hadn’t noticed him yet, she was standing in a group with three other girls talking instead of with Eddie as usual, so he walked to Eddie first. 

He leaned down to brush his lips by Eddie’s ear, “Hey I’m dropping Sarah off at my parents’ early this week. I’m coming over after this right?” He then moved to bite Eddie’s earlobe softly before pulling back and smiling at him mischievously. 

Eddie looked up at him with wide eyes, nodding quickly. “Obviously. I’ll text you when I’m home. You’d better be quick, Tozier.”

Richie raised his eyebrows at Eddie and winked before finding Sarah in the group and kneeling down to talk to her. He took her hand in his and led her to the car, opening the door for her and watching her jump in. He turned back to Eddie one last time after he closed her door, shooting him another wink.  

He just dropped Sarah off and headed home to wait for Eddie to text him, nervously pacing around his living room. After being home for about twenty minutes, his phone lit up.

**[3:32pm] Eddie: Get over here.**

[3:32pm] Richie: Omw

Richie came screeching into Eddie’s driveway about five minutes later, in half the time the drive normally took. He walked up to Eddie’s door and knocked, stepping back a bit and holding his hands behind his back to wait. Eddie opened the door, smiled at him, and just jumped on him, wrapping his legs around Richie’s waist and his arms around his shoulders, smashing their lips together. Startled, Richie grabbed his thighs quickly and just held Eddie in place while they made out on the porch. 

“We should go inside,” Richie mumbled against Eddie’s lips a few minutes later as Eddie’s hands had moved to the collar of Richie’s shirt, beginning to unbutton the top few buttons. Eddie simply nodded, pressing their lips back together and squeezing his thighs tighter around Richie’s midsection. Richie sighed into his mouth and laughed softly, “I’m gonna have to put you down, idiot.”

Eddie groaned but untangled himself from Richie before reaching behind him to grab the door handle. He looked up with pink lips and fluffed hair, smiling. They didn’t waste any time downstairs, Richie simply followed Eddie through the house and up to his bedroom. After Richie shut the door behind them, he grabbed Eddie roughly and pulled him close, smashing their lips together again. They moved against each other with perfect rhythm, and it became too much for Richie when he felt Eddie’s dick press up against his thigh. He whispered expletives against Eddie’s mouth as he started at the buttons on Eddie’s shirt. Eddie moaned and tried to finish what he had started on Richie’s. They both slipped out of their shirts, not breaking contact, and Eddie started backing up towards his bed, reaching his hands up into Richie’s hair and pulling. Richie moaned and picked him up again, and Eddie growled back into Richie’s mouth. Once they got to the bed, Richie threw Eddie down onto it, chasing him just a moment later.  

* * *

Eddie got up from the bed later, walking to the bathroom naked and flipping the shower on. He peeked back around the doorway back into his room, looking at Richie. “Care to join?” He asked, raising his eyebrows. Richie smiled at him and jumped up, meeting him in the shower. They took their time, just letting the warm, soapy water run over their bodies and clean the sweat off. 

After they got out, they walked back into Eddie’s room again and put their clothes back on. Eddie sat on the bed and watched as Richie finished buttoning his shirt back up. “I don’t have any food here, want to go get dinner somewhere?”

“Like a date? I can’t believe you’re asking me out!” Richie said in one of his voices, walking over and placing himself between Eddie’s legs.

Eddie rolled his eyes. “Richie. We literally just had sex, shut up.”

“Let’s go on a real date, though,” Richie said, looking down to where Eddie was seated, his eyes bright. “I want to take you out finally.” He reached a hand to cup Eddie’s cheek and Eddie brought a hand up to put on top of it, leaning into it. Richie leaned in and placed a lingering, soft kiss on his forehead. He pulled back to look into Eddie’s eyes. “Come on wheezy, let’s go.”

“Hey! I was fine this time so fuck you!” Eddie said as he stood up, getting up as close to Richie’s eyeline as possible, trying to look the slightest bit intimidating. “Also do not start calling me that.”

“Aw come on, Sarah won’t let me call her that either. It’s cute.” Richie whined, slouching his shoulders.

Eddie pushed past Richie on his way out of the room. “It is absolutely  _not_.” He called over his shoulder as Richie followed close behind him.

They decided to go to a little Italian restaurant downtown, now that they could actually be seen in public together. A few minutes after they’d sat down, before the waiter had even come over for their drink orders, Bill Denbrough walked in the front door with his fiancee Audra. Eddie looked up to see them put their names in and hang back to wait, but before he could look away, Bill met Eddie’s eyes and waved.

“Oh fuck,” Eddie whispered to Richie, who had his back to the front door, completely unaware of who’d just walked in.

“What?” Richie leaned in, a concerned look on his face.

“Bill’s here. Oh god, he’s coming over to say hi. Oh god. Oh fuck. I don’t like this.” 

Richie reached out to put a hand on Eddie’s wrist. “Shhh. It’ll be fine. Let me do the talking. I’ve been told I have a gift.” Richie smiled at him reassuringly, pulling his hand away as he heard footsteps approaching behind him.

Bill walked up to Eddie’s side of the table, Audra following close behind. He clapped a hand on Eddie’s shoulder. “Hey, man! You celebrating the end of the year too?” He asked.

“Uh.. um.. yeah. I guess.” Eddie stammered out, wringing his sweaty hands together in his lap.

Bill’s eyes moved across the table and noticed Richie. Richie wasted no time in looking up at Bill, smiling at him before he could say anything. “Hey, Big Bill! How are ya?”

“I’m.... good? How... are you, Rich...?” Bill asked, confused.

“Great! Been flirting with this one all year, you know how I get! And I finally convinced him to let me take him out to dinner today! He wouldn’t let me until now.” He looked back at Eddie, flashing him a subtle wink.

“Oh!” Bill looked surprised but smiled between the two of them. The buzzer went off in Audra’s hand, signaling their table was ready. She leaned forward and whispered in his ear, taking his hand to start walking away. “Okay. Well, we’d better leave, you two have fun.” 

“Oh, my fuck.” Eddie sighed after Bill had walked away, crossing his arms on the table and letting his head fall into them, relieved. 

Richie laughed and put a hand out to brush through his perfectly combed hair.  “We’re good, see! I told you I’m good at talking. That _is_ literally my job.” Eddie looked up at him, shaking his head but still smiling. 

* * *

They drove back to Eddie’s after dinner and threw their leftovers in the fridge. They moved to the living room, wrapping up in a blanket on the couch together, Eddie laying into Richie’s lap, their legs tangling together underneath the blanket. Eddie reached for the remote to flip on a movie he knew they weren’t going to watch, then rolled onto his back in Richie’s lap, looking up at him. Richie had felt him roll over and looked down fondly. “Hey, spaghetti,” he said softly, moving a hand into Eddie’s hair, a familiar position for them now. 

Eddie simply smiled back up at him and nestled his head into Richie’s hand. Richie leaned down to place a kiss on his forehead but lingered after. Eddie moved his face up to kiss him, he couldn’t get enough. After a minute of awkwardly trying to kiss Richie from his lap, he shifted up so he was sitting on Richie’s thighs. He melted into the hand that Richie slipped under his shirt to rest against the warm skin of his back. Eddie moved to nip at Richie’s neck and began to suck marks along his jawline. Once Eddie reached a hand into Richie’s hair to pull it, Richie moaned and pulled his lips off Eddie’s. “We need to go upstairs if we’re going to keep going,” he said in a deep voice that was thick with lust. Eddie grabbed his hand and they all but ran up the stairs for the second time that day.

* * *

The next morning, it was Richie who woke up first. He opened his eyes in the warm morning sunlight and looked down. The picture he saw was fairly blurry, but he could make out Eddie resting his head on his bare chest, breathing softly. Richie couldn’t see his chest rise and fall with his breathing, but he could feel warm breath on his stomach with each of Eddie's exhales. Eddie had his arm curled up and his hand splayed out in front of his face on Richie’s stomach. Richie laid there for a while silently, not wanting to rouse Eddie. He just watched, relaxed by Eddie’s even breathing. 

After a while, he reached over to the side table to grab the contact case sitting on it, starting to get a headache from straining his eyes. He tried his hardest to move as little as possible so as to not wake Eddie, but he knew had failed when he felt Eddie’s fingers on his chest stir, then fall off. He put his contacts in quickly and looked back to see Eddie roll to his side and stretch out, yawning wide. “Morning,” he said sleepily, looking up at Richie with his eyes half-open. 

Richie laid back down on his side facing Eddie, resting his head on the same pillow, making their faces only inches apart. “Mornin',” he whispered, leaning forward and resting his forehead against Eddie’s. 

Eddie turned his chin up to quickly peck Richie’s lips before rolling over and standing up. “Brush my teeth,” he mumbled, still not fully awake.

Eddie grabbed a sweatshirt from his closet on the way back from the bathroom, cold in just his boxers. He curled back up in bed, pulling the arms of the sweater to cover his hands and looking up at Richie. “What do you wanna do today? When do you need to get Sarah?” 

“Whenever. My mom didn’t tell me a specific time today. Want to come with me? She’s been pestering me about hanging out with you all week.”

Eddie smiled. “Sure.” He leaned forward again to place a kiss on Richie’s lips, lingering a little longer this time.

They walked downstairs to make breakfast, Richie just in his jeans from the night before and no shirt, Eddie in boxers and the sweatshirt he’d put on that morning. After they ate, they got dressed--Richie in his clothes from the day before. 

“Don’t you want to change before we head over there?” Eddie asked as he pulled on a pair of khakis.

Richie looked up and shrugged at Eddie from where he was seated criss-cross in his bed, watching him dress. “I don’t really give a shit anymore. We can’t get in trouble now,” he said with a huge, crooked smile. 

They headed over to Richie’s parents’ house, Richie drove this time. Eddie opted to stay in the car again and watched as Richie and Sarah walked out the front door hand in hand. She noticed him in the car and dropped Richie’s hand, running over. Richie laughed and ran after her, using his long stride to catch her easily, leaning over her head and opening the door.

“Eddie!!” She squealed as she climbed into the car, eyes bright behind her glasses. 

Richie smiled over at Eddie as he shot Sarah a wave from the passenger seat of the car. He watched her buckle herself in and shut the door softly behind her. He climbed into the driver’s seat and turned to face her. “Hey bug, can we get some coffee?” She nodded happily, and they set off for the coffee shop. 

When they let her out of the car, she placed herself right in between the two of them, reaching her hands up for them to hold as they walked through the parking lot. Eddie could feel the thought creeping back into his mind that he’d tried to suppress so many times, that when they walked like this, hand in hand with Sarah in between them, they almost looked like a family. And now they almost could be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AH IT'S FINALLY FINISHED!!   
> i hope you enjoyed this fic, thank you so much for taking the time to read my silly story. :')


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